


Wolf Children

by Mycreativewritings



Series: Wolf Children [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL Brothers, ASL are Biological Brothers, Ace Swears a Lot, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Hunter!Teach, No Devil Fruits, Portgas D. Ace Lives, Werewolf!AU, Wolf Transformations are like Atsushi from BSD, multiple POVs, protective roger
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:41:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 38,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27350647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mycreativewritings/pseuds/Mycreativewritings
Summary: Ever since the beginning of mankind, werewolves have been considered a danger to society. That's why Ace and his brothers don't know any better than being raised in a shack far away from the nearest human village. Having a human mother doesn't change anything. But much like how most of the brothers' problems start, Luffy's curiosity gets the better of him and soon the brothers find themselves in a very human world.
Relationships: Gol D. Roger/Portgas D. Rouge, Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace & Sabo
Series: Wolf Children [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2029636
Comments: 33
Kudos: 75





	1. Ordinary

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, thank you for clicking on this story! This is actually going to be a rewrite of an earlier version of 'Wolf Children', which was one I am currently not happy with and one that I never really thought out. So therefore I decided to rewrite it, this time keeping a bit closer to the movie and with enough changes for it to be a new story:) I have not seriously written anything since at least 2018, so I'll try to write this as well as I can!
> 
> (Disclaimer: I obviously don't own One Piece. All rights go to Oda.)

Before Sabo started retelling stories to their little brother, Ace never understood the point of books. He didn’t understand the point of reading as a whole, for that matter.

As a wolf, he always reasoned it was a stupid and useless pure blood-human activity. Admittedly, at the time he knew little to nothing about the pure-blooded ones that live in the nearby village, let alone their children. Ace didn’t care to learn about people that have shunned his kind for many, many centuries. Why should he give a shit?

But even with the non-existent knowledge he had, Ace figured that the kids from the village were at least not allowed to go into the forest. He had to accidentally cross the borders, that his dad has ever so explicitly marked for his family, to encounter a pure-blooded child. He could barely make out to the top of a tower, but he was apparently close enough to come face to face with a kid from the village. A really big kid, since Ace had to look up from his hiding spot behind one of the bushes. The boy (or girl, for all he cares) had locked eyes with him for just a split second, but it felt like _hours_ went by before Ace found the ability to breathe again. He will never forget the way the kid’s face paled, the way his eyes went as big as saucers. Ace himself couldn’t move at the time, his eyes stuck on the big brown eyes staring holes through his face. If it wasn’t for a sudden voice shouting at the kid to come back this instant, Ace wouldn’t have snapped out of it on time.

He wasn’t (and still isn’t) proud of it, but much thanks to the short encounter, Ace reasoned there was _no way_ to doubt that kids were forbidden from entering the forest anymore. Which, in his young mind, meant that those kids only had their _stupid_ books to learn about nature and worlds outside their _stupid_ safe village.

Ace didn’t need books to learn about all that stuff. He had all the freedom in the world to run wild through the woods, causing trouble with Luffy and Sabo. And since he is Roger’s oldest, Ace has always known he would one day be the leader of a pack of his own. Granted, his dad had left his pack once his very human wife became pregnant with him and his brother, but Ace was very determined to learn how to lead a pack one way or another. There was no room in his very busy lifestyle for books about things that just didn’t interest him.

But as he looks through one of Sabo’s many worn picture books, Ace finds himself intrigued once again. It’s been nearly eleven years since his grandfather (though he still refuses to call Garp just that) brought Ace and his family to Dawn Island, brought them up Mt. Corvo, and all but dumped them in front of a shack.

A shack that Ace has been calling home ever since.

The old man had been ‘kind’ enough to make their fresh new neighbors clean the place before the family arrived, something Dadan is still bitter about. And even though the place was as empty as it could have been, save for some furniture, Ace still had found an old and dusty picture book lying on his new bed. Though he wasn’t at all interested in it, Sabo had taken an immediate liking to it and had all but demanded their mother to teach him how to read.

Ace chuckles at the memory of it. He is sure Sabo is the fastest seven-year-old half human - half wolf to ever learn how to read.

But as time went by, Ace too learned to love Noland’s stories and much of their childhood, his brothers and him spent either laying around till the nick of dawn fantasying about people on clouds or acting out several action scenes from the book.

The stories eventually found their way to their parents and the Dadan Family. To this day, Noland’s stories are an absolute favorite to retell during cold nights and get-togethers.

Ace smiles and runs his hand over one of the pictures, its bright colors having long faded. _Liar Noland_ is the only book in their collection that still has a front cover since Luffy can’t be fucking careful a day in his life. It had taken four books to accidentally be ripped apart as a result of Luffy’s strong claws before Ace was done and put Noland far out of his little brother’s reach. It isn’t really needed anymore since Luffy has learned how to control his transformations but the book is special so Ace wants to keep it looking like it was just made.

For as far as that is possible in a wolf family.

A painful whack on the head with a metal pipe snaps Ace out of his daydreaming and he reaches for the burning spot as he turns around with an insult resting on his tongue. He finds himself staring at a grinning Sabo, whose eyes flicker between his brother and the picture book.

“Getting nostalgic again?”

Ace rolls his eyes and puts the book back where it belongs. He flicks his finger against Sabo’s forehead and replies, “Shut up, idiot. Like you don’t burst into tears when you go through your stupid academic books again.”

“Just because you’re too dumb to understand it, doesn’t make them academic.”

Ace does not feel the need to dignify that with a verbal response and instead flips his blond brother off, much to Sabo’s clear satisfaction. The boy laughs and shakes his head. He points over his shoulder with his thumb and says, “I came to drag your ass out of the shack. Luffy is about to burst with excitement and I don’t think dad can hold him any longer.”

Ace walks around Sabo to peek through the window and sees his little brother jumping around Roger like a hyper monkey on the grass in front of their home. Ace snorts, “He is such a whiney shithead.”

“A whiney shithead who will most definitely kick your ass up one of the trees if you won’t hurry up.”

And as if on cue, Luffy redirects his never-ending energy away from their dad towards his two brothers. A bright smile forms on his face at the sight of Ace and he shouts, loud enough for the entire forest to hear, “Oi! Ace! Hurry up! The nice tigers might be gone by the time we’re down there!”

Ace shakes his head and grins, Sabo’s laughter in the background. His brother pats him on the shoulder, “You heard the man. Let’s go before the nice tigers are gone.”

Needing little more encouragement, Ace sprints around Sabo to grab his own metal pipe and rushes to go join his brothers.

* * *

Usopp does not believe in myths and fairy tales. He _doesn’t_. There may have been a period in his life where he made his dad guard his room at night because of big trolls in his closet, but Usopp’s days of screaming about beings that simply _don’t exist_ are over.

That being established, the stories are not any less haunting. Much thanks to Sanji’s contribution, Usopp has known about massive shadows in the skies and the absolute lunatic idea of civilization on clouds his whole life. He very pointedly does not buy any of Liar Noland’s crap (no matter how often Nami calls him out on it), but he is not above admitting that he has stared at the sky trying to see if a hand might show up between the clouds.

Usopp does not believe in myths and fairy tales. However, the terrifying ability to turn into a wolf does not belong to either of those kinds. Nothing will ever be as haunting as the local cautionary tales about the dangers of werewolves in the forest neighboring Foosha Village. Werewolves are a very _real_ problem, one that Usopp so desperately wished belonged to the long list of ancient myths. But there isn’t much left to the imagination when those who are brave enough to set foot inside those cursed woods, never return home. Granted, the most recent disappearance was twenty years ago, when a nine-year-old noble was reportedly bitten and had caused havoc in High Town before disappearing into the woods. Usopp’s mother had barely started dating his father, but the stories have left a big impact on him despite not even being born at the time. It doesn’t help that ever since that infamous incident, hunters are scattered all through the kingdom. Foosha village alone has two hunters parading around, on constant watch for possible new predators.

But he has to hand it to them, Usopp thinks as he passes one of the hunters on his way to _Partys Bar_. No one has been reported missing in the past twenty years and the forest grounds are covered in traps for as far as Usopp is concerned. There is simply no possible way for a wolf to sneak its way into the village without either dying or making so much noise, that the hunters will be on it before he can cause yet another havoc.

He should feel safe, but one glance at Mt. Corvo behind _Partys Bar_ makes him shudder and he wastes no time in pushing the saloon doors all the way open to find himself in the familiar company of his friends. Sanji is already arguing with Zoro about god knows what, poor Brook stuck between them. Nami has her cheek resting on the palm of her hand as she watches the two with an exasperated look on her face, playing with the straw of her drink. Franky and Robin, ever the parents of the bunch, are just watching it play out with knowing smiles on their faces.

The many lights laying on Makino’s bar immediately catch Usopp’s attention and an excited gleam finds its way on his face. Just one day before their annual autumn fair and Usopp can’t wait. It’s the only time of the year that Usopp is allowed to freely shoot his slingshot, albeit only in one of the games that are set out in the village. Mixed with all the good food, much lower prices on goods that would otherwise cost Usopp months’ worth of allowance, and just a generally nice atmosphere that not even the constant fear of wolf attacks could ruin.

He grins widely and greets Makino before grabbing a vacant chair to push himself between Nami and Franky, much to the former’s visible dismay. Usopp pointedly ignores it in favor of beaming, “After _months_ of hard work, I can finally show off my new slingshot. I’m telling you, this one is even better than last year’s!”

Nami snorts and says, leaning back in her chair, “You said the same thing last year. And the year before that. And the –”

“Alright, I get it!”

“Oi, don’t yell at Nami-san!”

The glare Sanji sends Usopp’s way is enough to make him retract his coming insult and he sulks, “No need to be so damn rude, cook.” Sanji’s eye starts to twitch but before he could shout yet another insult at Usopp, Zoro sneers behind the blonde, “Curly brow is a lost cause, no point in trying to reason with him.”

“Shut the hell up, damn marimo!”

“Ha?!”

“Well, this was fun. Great talking to you all about how excited we all are for tomorrow. Yay.” Usopp dryly remarks, making Robin giggle. She shakes her head and tells him, “For what it’s worth, I’m looking forward to the fair. I’ve heard good things about the preparations this year, so I’m excited to find out what’s to come.”

“As long as I won’t hear another wolf howl, I’ll be fine,” Brook speaks up, leaning forward to stay out of the crossfire between Sanji and Zoro. Franky starts to laugh, making Usopp nearly jump out of his chair. The shipwright wipes the cola from the sides of his mouth with the back of his hand and grins, “Come on, man. It’s not as scary as you’re making it out to be.”

“I beg to differ, Franky-san. Every time I hear such noises coming from up the mountain, I feel like my soul leaves my body.”

“Don’t say such scary shit, Brook. This fair is supposed to be fun, not another time to be on a constant edge.” Nami snaps. Usopp can relate. Just last year, someone had allegedly heard something coming from the forest, and even though it turned out to be a false alarm, the whole fair had been ruined for all Usopp was concerned. 

“Can’t change shit about wolves living in the forest. If they ever have the damn guts to come down, we’ll deal with it then. No use in getting all fussy about it now.” Zoro’s deep voice snaps Usopp out of his thoughts and he watches the swordsman take a big gulp of his booze with no care in the world.

“Why are you so fucking careless?!”

Usopp sighs and looks at the surprisingly clean ceiling fan just above them. He supposes Zoro is right, in his own barbaric ways. There is truly nothing Usopp could do to really prepare himself for a possible werewolf attack. If the stories are true, the demons sneak up at you in the dead of the night, with only a pair of golden eyes staring at you as a warning. The thought of it makes Usopp want to cry. Naturally, he doesn’t know if those rumors are true but considering how it’s always the same tale, he can’t even fathom not believing it.

But as he looks at his friends, all of whom are currently in a heated debate on whether or not Zoro should be the one to dive headfirst into an attack when the wolves will (inevitably) show up to terrify their next prey, Usopp feels like he’ll never have to find out for himself if the tales are true.

Hopefully, that is. But being hopeful has never been Usopp’s strongest point.


	2. The Lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His curiosity has always made him want to see the lights up close but every time he’d ask Shanks, the older man would always say ‘no’ with a sour expression on his face. Not because he doesn’t want Luffy down there, but because of the risks it would take to do so. All his life, Luffy has heard he can’t go to the village. It’s too dangerous for a wolf child to try and be the same as the other human beings, especially when said wolf child is still too clumsy to have full control over his transformations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! First of all, when I uploaded the first chapter, I didn't think I'd get any response. Yet I've already gotten a couple of comments, people leaving kudos, and bookmarking this story so for that, I'm very grateful! Also, I don't think I made it very clear in the first chapter, but they are just a bit younger in this story. Luffy is 15 years old, Ace and Sabo are 17 years old.

“You’re so slow, Luffy!”

“Shut up! I _will_ win, just you watch!”

Somewhere ahead of Luffy, Ace’s loud laughter echoes between the tall trees of the forest. Warm sun rays beam down at him, slightly obscured by the many treetops. Luffy jumps over a massive fallen tree and he can make out his two older brothers splashing away in their race across the low waters of the river stream that passes by near their home. Sabo, ever the competitive one, slams his full body against his twin brother. Ace anticipated the sudden elbow in his chest and does the same back. Butting heads like two lions, the two make their way to the other side of the river, leaving Luffy to catch up with them.

The younger wolf narrows his eyes, moving them up to watch birds wildly and ever so loudly fly away from the high treetops. A wide grin forms on his face and with a growl, he digs his claws into the sand beneath him before pushing himself forward. He all but jumps in the water when his brothers get out.

“I’m going to be the king! Out of my way!”

The water splashes all around him, little pebbles moving past his paws as he wastes no time in chasing after his older brothers. Yellow and red leaves drift away on to the calmer waters and birds that fly over the three brothers screech loudly as if personally offended that a group of three wolf children woke them up from a peaceful night’s rest.

Luffy loves every second of it.

He makes it to the other side and starts to catch up with the other two, who have sped up as well with a wide grin on their faces. The top of the shack appears in their sights, a sign to go even faster. Running through the wild ferns, Ace loses his fast momentum when one of his paws stays stuck behind a snail and as Ace slows down, Luffy takes his chance. Without a second of hesitation, he allows himself to fully change into a wolf and races past his still half-changed brothers, shreds of clothing left in his wake. He delights himself in the way Sabo’s eyes widen whilst pointedly ignoring the enraged spluttering coming from his fallen brother.

Luffy starts to laugh and sticks out his tongue over his shoulder before he jumps out of the big bush of ferns. He runs as fast as he can until his house appears between the trees, where the sight of his mother neatly hanging wet clothes on a rope greets him. He dashes onto the land before the house and howls loudly as if to announce his first place to the whole wide world.

His mother lets out a yelp and drops one of the clothespins she was holding, spinning around on the balls of her bare feet. She collects a big, white bedsheet in her arms as her eyes find her youngest son, grinning widely at her. The wary expression morphs into relief, placing a hand on her hip as she immediately scolds him, “What did I tell you boys about fully changing this week? I can’t keep up with you three if you keep ripping your clothes before I have a chance to mend the first batch!”

Luffy shakes his paws to rid his black fur from the water before he pouts up at his mother, turning back into his human form. He moves his straw hat, fallen on to his back when he changed, back onto his messy black hair, and simply answers, dusting off the hat, “I forgot.”

“How can you forget when I reminded you just this morning?”

His mother sighs and rubs her temple with her middle finger, dropping her shoulders in defeat. The sound of leaves cracking turns Luffy’s guilty grin away from his mother and the smile stretches as his father wanders out of the shack with a basket filled with laundry. The older man looks up at the commotion with furrowed brows when his eyes find his naked son. He quickly drops the basket on the nearest chair and rushes up to him with a wet towel. Wrapping it around Luffy, he says with his trademark grin, “Don’t you worry about your mother. You are just running out of clothes, so we’re all starting to stress a little. Maybe consider listening to her next time you boys go out to frighten the rest of the forest.”

Luffy chuckles and grabs his father’s shoulders to lean across them as he exclaims, “Ah! I’m sorry, ma! I promise I won’t do it again!” Rouge waves her hand at him as if saying that it doesn’t matter anymore. Roger laughs and ruffles Luffy’s hair, pushing the straw hat down again. Luffy whines and tries to push his dad away to no avail. It is only when a paw hits the back of his head that his father moves away with a confused look on his face.

“Ah! That hurts!”

Luffy reaches for the already sore spot as he hurls around, locking eyes with a glaring Ace. His paw changes back into his hand and he makes a fist as he snaps, “Your own damn fault! Who the hell told you to cheat?”

“I didn’t cheat!”

“Yes, you did! Fully transforming is cheating, bastard!”

Luffy gives his brother the stink eye, not one bit fazed by his outburst. Sabo joins their side, resting his hands on Ace’s shoulders. He catches his breath and turns to look at his little brother, cutting the staring match with Ace short as he reaches across his twin’s shoulder to flick his finger against Luffy’s forehead. “No more playing against the rules, brat.”

He grins up at their parents in the same apologetic way he always does when the three of them have caused trouble, even when he isn’t even part of it. His father, however, has crossed his arms with an amused look on his face and merely warns, “Ace, please cut back with the cussing.”

“Like you get to talk, old man.” Ace mutters under his breath, looking away from Luffy to his father. And as the inevitable bickering starts, Luffy slips away from between his brothers and father to run back to the shack. He barely holds on to the towel wrapped around his lower half and all but stumbles inside, pushing the red door with ease. His feet are muddy and his straw hat even worse so. Just two steps on the wooden floor leave a mark, which Luffy belatedly realizes his mother might not like.

Continuing his way, Luffy huffs and puts his hat back on once again. He tightens his hands around the wet towel and locks his eyes on the sturdy ladder that leads the way to the second floor of the cabin: a little platform that only has room for one big mattress and a cabin Roger build himself to store the little clothes that his brothers and Luffy have. A fence, currently home to many of the knickknacks that Luffy finds whenever he is out, makes sure none of them accidentally tumble down during the night.

He runs across the main area of their little home, a grin on his face when he smells the delicious smell coming from the kitchen area. On his way, he feels the towel slowly slipping away but even with his mother’s scolding about how this wouldn’t have happened had he just listened to her, he can’t keep constant track of the damn thing. She always makes a big fuss about running around naked, but he is always out in the forest where absolutely no one shows up besides Shanks every other month. He isn’t all that bothered by it, but alas, his mother is and Luffy cares about his family’s opinion more than anyone else’s.

With practiced ease, Luffy pushes himself onto the rather tiny platform and searches for the clothes he knows he left lying around. The bed is sloppily made, something that Sabo did this morning in a hurry to keep up with his two wild brothers. _Liar Noland_ rests neatly on Sabo’s pillow since they forgot to put it back on the shelf last night. Their few pictures of their family, stuck to the wall with leftover gum by Ace, are highlighted on the wall by the bit of sun shining through their little window.

He falls on his knees and crawls across the bed to reach for his underwear and a pair of pants. He then grabs his favorite red vest and in the process, makes an even bigger mess of the bed again. Even though Sabo is always the one to clean up after Ace and him, he always threatens to throw them into the river if they don’t start doing their bit. He’s only done it once and only because Ace was driving him up the wall.

Luffy thinks it’s hilarious, even if Sabo can be a bit scary when he’s truly pissed off.

He slides back to the ladder, accidentally kicking Ace’s cowboy hat from the fence as he goes. Luffy watches it go down with fascination. When it lands on the dining table, Luffy tilts his head to the side in confusion at the sight of a piece of paper sticking out from underneath the orange headwear.

Interests piqued, Luffy jumps back on to the floor. He’s never hurt, no matter how many times he jumps down from heights that give his mother a heart attack. Ace used to say his body is made out of rubber and over time, Luffy has started to believe that in earnest.

He wobbles a bit from the impact and skips over to the table. He pulls out the crumpled piece of paper and frowns as he looks at it. He turns it around and moves it closer to try and read what it says. Luffy _can_ read, even though it will never be his favorite activity. When their mother insisted on teaching Ace and Sabo how to read when they were seven, Luffy forcefully included himself in the lessons. He wanted to do everything his brothers did and although he was only five at the time, Rouge was amused and let him do it. Combined with an even shorter attention span, Luffy didn’t get much done the first two years.

Looking back at the paper, he notices the lights in the corner of the paper and his eyes start to shine. He runs back outside, waving the piece of paper around as he shouts, “Da! What is this? Why are the lights on here?”

Roger, handing a pair of socks to Ace who is now helping out, turns around and his eyes get drawn to the paper in Luffy’s hands. He points with his thumb over his shoulder, into the general direction of Foosha Village.

“It’s a flyer for their annual lights festival. It’s where all those lights come from every year. Shanks dropped it off during his last visit, said they wanted to go all out this year. Hence, the early announcements on the flyer. He knows you’re obsessed with the lights, so he left it lying around here. I’m surprised you’re only seeing it now.”

“Shanks did?” Luffy asks excitedly. He looks up at the sky in thought, the gleam not leaving his eyes at the idea of the lights. Shanks is right, he is obsessed with the lights. The first time he saw lights fly high up into the sky, he got himself accidentally stuck in a treetop at the mere age of seven. He was amazed by them, he’d never seen anything like it. He’d thrown at least a thousand questions about them at Shanks when he came up soon afterward and the obsession never left. Luffy doesn’t know the exact date, but halfway during autumn the sky always lights up during the night down at the village.

His curiosity has always made him want to see the lights up close but every time he’d ask Shanks, the older man would always say ‘no’ with a sour expression on his face. Not because he doesn’t want Luffy down there, but because of the _risks_ it would take to do so. All his life, Luffy has heard he can’t go to the village. It’s too dangerous for a wolf child to try and be the same as the other human beings, especially when said wolf child is still too clumsy to have full control over his transformations.

And yet, even being fifteen now and having that full control, he can’t. Other than Shanks, Luffy’s experiences with people are only the bandits next door, his mother, Makino, and gramps. And since Luffy is anything but shy, he would not bother trying to lay low. He would stand out too much.

Regardless of all the reasons why it’s such a risk, Luffy looks up at his dad with the familiar question already resting on his tongue.

“Can I go?!”

Ace scoffs, wildly pointing in the same direction as their dad, “Don’t you understand those people down there will think you’re a monster once they find out what you are? They’ll hunt you down with pitchforks and throw you off a cliff! They won’t be any different than the people at Baterilla.”

“They didn’t ‘hunt us down with pitchforks’.”

“They would have, had that old man not ignored his orders and moved us out of there.”

Luffy pouts, “But I don’t even remember that! I was only four, not seven like you!” He doesn’t remember the suspicious glares they got during the time they lived on the other island as his brothers do, doesn’t remember the way no kid wanted to play with the kids from a ‘freaky family’. Doesn’t remember the neighbors calling animal control on their parents because his brothers and he couldn’t keep their transformations and constant need to howl in check. Ace and Sabo had to tell him whenever they were huddled together on their bed after Luffy pried for long enough.

He understands his family’s worries yet at the same time, he thinks it’s uncalled for. Shanks is there, after all.

Which is exactly what he voices. Ace wants to say something, undoubtedly lecturing him again, but Sabo stops him as he pushes him away with a hand on his shoulder. He sighs, looking at his excited little brother, “Look, Luffy. Even with Shanks there, what will happen when you change due to your excitement? Because that’s what you’ll do. Shanks can’t exactly cover for you when you’re out in public looking like a scary wolf.”

“And since you can’t lie, you’ll spill the beans immediately. Do you know what happens to little wolves in the den of the lion? They’ll get eaten!” Ace wiggles his fingers across Sabo’s shoulders, turning them into claws with a dangerous grin on his face. Sabo rolls his eyes at him and pushes the claw away with enough force to make Ace stumble. 

“I’m sorry, son, but I have to agree with Sabo here. I would want nothing but to go down there with all of us to see the lights, but I fear the risk is just a little too high for me to be comfortable with it.” His dad walks up to him and wraps Luffy into a hug like he always does whenever he is close to getting sentimental. Since he is so much taller than his youngest, Roger can easily rest his chin on his old straw hat.

“And I do trust Shanks, of course I do. He wouldn’t have been one of my closest friends for all these years if that wasn’t the case. But since he could get arrested for simply knowing werewolves are living up the mountain, I’d put both of you at risk. I’m sorry, kiddo.”

He presses a loud kiss against Luffy’s forehead to make his point even clearer and starts to laugh when his son makes a disgusted face at the sound of it.

“It’s just not fair,” Luffy mumbles and gets hit square in the face with a folded towel. Ace sticks out his tongue at him from behind Sabo and says, “Life’s not fair, little brother. Why not bother Dadan instead? I bet she can’t wait for you to come over!”

“Or,” Rouge cuts in as she rushes over to pick up the disregarded towel Ace threw, “You can also help your mother with her laundry. Chop, chop, boys. I want this done before breakfast so you better hurry up.” She chuckles when she sees the shocked faces of her four boys, all of whom eat more than anyone should ever be allowed to. She puts her hands on Luffy’s shoulders and pushes him forward, ignoring his whining about being hungry now.

“I suppose you all better hurry up then.”

“No fair, ma!”

* * *

“Does the face really have to look that scary, Usopp? Why not give it a pretty smile or something like that?”

Usopp lets out a sigh and moves the paper down, putting his well thought out sketch down on the porch of Partys Bar. He removes the big spoon from the pumpkin on his lap and points it at the pouting Chopper, some of the orange pulp falling on the sand. “How dare you even suggest I give him a smile? This is _supposed_ to be creepy! Besides, it doesn’t even look that scary. You just get terrified of literally anything that moves. Like those ants from last summer. That was pathetic.”

“I’m not scared of ants! They bit me, which meant I had red spots all over my arm for the rest of summer. You would have lost your mind too!” Chopper shouts back, balling his fists in a way that can only be described as cute. Usopp lightly taps the back of the spoon against his younger friend’s pink hat and puffs his chest as he says, “I wouldn’t. I am immune to illnesses, after all.”

“Nami told me that wasn’t true,” Chopper says, tilting his head to the side as he rests his cheek in the palm of his hand. Usopp sputters and turns red, much to Chopper’s apparent confusion. He hides a cough into his fist and mumbles, “The traitor.” He then loudly clears his throat, continuing like he isn’t embarrassed, “But anyway! It isn’t fair that just because of the lights festival we can’t have a bit of Halloween fun! So no, I won’t give it a ‘pretty smile’, especially not after you just insulted me.”

“But it was Nami who said it!”

“Yes, and you blindly believe her! The lack of trust you have in me is absolutely astonishing.”

He digs back into the pumpkin, the pout back on Chopper’s face. Usopp looks at him in the corner of his eye and like always, his heart is not strong enough to stay grumpy at someone like Chopper. So he reaches out to ruffle the brown hair that sticks out from underneath the hat, “Leave it. Nami should just learn to trust me more. Not your fault.”

The smile is back on the youngster’s face, much to Usopp’s relief, and his big brown eyes start to watch every move Usopp makes with his spoon with fascination written all over his face.

Sitting side by side on Makino’s porch, perfectly out of the way in case any costumers might show up already, the two have a perfect sight of the rest of town preparing for the light festival tonight. Nami was early, dropping by just when Usopp showed up at the bar with her older sister to deliver an armful of lanterns to Makino. The lanterns are stacking up in the back since everyone gets to pick theirs up right here before the big event starts.

Usopp can’t wait. The light event is the most exciting part of the fair. Ever since he was allowed to join his dad on his old fishing boat, he hasn’t missed a year. Over time, his friends started to come along as well and it’s turned into a tradition to let the lanterns fly up into the sky on the sea with each other. It’s especially exciting this year because Chopper is finally allowed to join. The combination of him only turning fourteen just this year, his general fear of everything that moves, and his foster mom’s _aggressive_ overprotectiveness made it difficult for him to join the rest of the group. This year, however, he too can let a lantern up. As a result, he’s been exploding with excitement for the whole past month.

“Ugh, I can’t wait for tonight. I bet it’s going to be so much fun! Zoro promised me he’s going to help me with my lantern in case I might mess up.” Chopper happily chats away, eyes not missing a beat of Usopp’s movements.

“I bet he has,” Usopp mutters sarcastically, shortly eyeing his beaming friend. Out of all of them, Zoro struggles the most with the lanterns. Not that he can’t lit the damn thing, he just tends to forget to take it with him, which in turn makes him get lost on his way home. It’s incredible how the greenhead still can’t find his way home even after living here his whole life.

And he wants to talk about helping Chopper? Well, in retrospect, it makes sense for him to offer his assistance. He is not typically the kind of guy to openly show his affection for those he holds close to him, but somehow Chopper is a clear exception. Alongside his family, that is. It doesn’t help that he looks up to Zoro like he’s the world’s best big brother and seems to think everything he does is cool. Usopp is _definitely_ not bitter about the fact that Chopper does not think the same way about him. It’s not his fault he doesn’t have a father who just has swords lying around at home.

Granted, Mihawk is the local blacksmith so it makes sense, but his point still stands. Zoro never leaves home without his katanas, a whole three of them.

“Oh!” Chopper exclaims, moving his head up from the palms of his hands. “I wonder what games they’re going to have this year! I overheard Frankie talking to my mother about his new inventions, so it must be better than last year. I bet Zoro’s going to be first at the _Ring the Bell_ game again.”

Usopp lets out a gasp, taking great offense to that. He points his dirty spoon at Chopper again, wildly kicking sand away in his dramatic flailing. “Excuse you? Why not me? I am, after all, the strongest man in all of Foosha Village! Look at these muscles. I’m the undefeated king!” He pushes with his thumb against the back of his arm, a trick he long learned from dad. Chopper, ever the gullible one, lets out an excited noise and leans in closer as he says, “Did you train or something? Maybe you do have a shot at winning this year!”

Usopp grins and puffs his chest. He lets out an extra loud laugh and wants to continue talking, now having Chopper feed his ego. The sound of wheels crushing sand beneath them makes him turn around, finding Sanji walk up to them. He is pulling a cart filled with food behind him and, having heard Usopp’s brag, he makes an unimpressed face. He takes out his cigarette as he comes to a halt in front of Makino’s bar.

“With what? Those noodle arms? Move your thumb, you idiot. You’re making a fool of yourself.”

Usopp glares at him, an irritated look befalling his face. Sanji is not at all intimidated and runs a hand through his hair before taking another drag. He nods towards the pumpkin and asks, “What you’re up to? Trying to stand out this year or what?”

“Knock that off. I’m carving a pumpkin, let me have at least one Halloween. Just because the festival is at the same time doesn’t mean I can’t have a bit of fun with it.” Sanji slightly raises his eyebrows but doesn’t bother questioning him any further, much to Usopp’s delight.

“Speaking of what we are up to, what you got there?” Usopp leaves his pumpkin be and pushes himself up to get a closer look inside the cart. His eyes start to shine at the sight of fresh fish and the many fruits Sanji has already gathered. He reaches out his hand for one of the apples but a kick to the shin makes him pull back immediately. He lets out a yelp as Sanji snaps, “Keep your dirty hands away from the food, long-nose. I don’t need sand and pulp all over it.”

“Damn it, that hurts.” Usopp whines, to no avail. It is too early to be getting kicked around by a grumpy cook, no doubt having worked till late at night yesterday to get the food ready for the Baratie’s stall somewhere on the fair.

Chopper is laughing on the side, looking down once he gets the stink eye from the blond.

“You have no manners.” Sanji says, making a ‘tssk’ sound afterward. He fumbles around in his pocket for his lighter but when the bar doors start to creak the cook looks up and going with the way his expression morphs from annoyance to the familiar heart eyes, Usopp doesn’t have to guess who just stepped outside.

Makino’s light steps sound extra loud in the quietness of the early morning and as she wipes her hands dry on her apron, she gives the three boys a confused but ever so smiling face. “My, my. What a commotion so early already. Are you boys alright?”

Sanji forgets about the lighter to clasp his hands together and all but swoons, “My lovely lady, you look as beautiful as ever. How are you this fine morning?” Usopp rolls his eyes as he crosses his arms. Chopper looks just as lost as he always does whenever Sanji starts throwing pick-up lines to a woman and moves his eyes between the bar owner and his blonde friend like a confused little lamb.

Makino chuckles behind her hand and answers, not at all fazed. “I’m quite alright, thank you. I’m waiting for my husband. He should have been here already but somehow, I’m not surprised. Shanks sure does like taking decoys whenever I send him out on an errand. Oh! There you are!”

She makes an adorable little jump at the arrival of a new face, who wastes no time in whacking Sanji behind his head with a rolled-up flyer. Sanji turns around with an insult undoubtedly already on his tongue, but the sight of Shanks’s utterly amused face makes him quickly back down. The redhead laughs loudly and looks up at his wife, pointing the crumbled piece of paper at Sanji.

“What’s this? You’re leaving me for a younger man?”

Makino sighs and shakes her head, putting her hands on her hips as she says, “Don’t be ridiculous, love. Did you get the sugar I asked you to get?” Shanks smiles at her and moves a little burlap back above his head, Usopp recognizing his dad’s fisherman logo on in an instant.

“Yasopp had plenty lying around, so I didn’t have to pay a single berry!” Shanks cheerfully announces, looking at Usopp in the corner of his eye. Makino makes a noise that sounds suspiciously like a groan and as she starts to tell her smiling husband, no doubt having heard the same speech at least a hundred times already, about how he shouldn’t constantly try to get things for free. Shanks walks around the three younger boys to join his wife’s side and Usopp mindlessly puts one of his hands on Sanji’s cart as he watches the redhead give Makino a quick kiss on her cheek.

Usopp has never been able to figure Shanks out. He more often than not acts like the town’s fool (something the mayor loves to complain about to Makino) but he seems to know more than he lets on. Usopp suspects he might even know more about _him_ than he knows about himself. It doesn’t help that his father is best buddies with Shanks. The man has been around his house more times than Usopp can count.

Don’t get him wrong, Usopp really likes Shanks. He is friendly and very funny. He makes Makino happy and is amazing with kids, always taking time out of his day to run around with the youngest bunch of town. And whenever either Usopp or one of his friends needs help, he doesn’t hesitate to offer a helping hand. The guy is great, Usopp knows that.

But Shanks goes _into_ the forest. _Willingly_. Seemingly always with a clear goal in mind. What’s even stranger is the fact that he is never spooked out. No, he seems to be nothing but thrilled to go up there.

It’s insane if you were to ask Usopp.

The old marine Garp is the only other lunatic who goes up the mountain but even without that knowledge, the man isn’t any less crazy. He seems to be taking days off every single month and to be honest, Usopp has only seen him show up in uniform a handful of times. He is a strange old man, that Garp. The sole purpose of his visits to Foosha Village is to make wild trips up the mountain. Only Makino gets the ‘privilege’ of having him come say goodbye afterward since Garp can’t be bothered with the rest of the people.

Usopp doesn’t understand how he does it. Those woods are haunted and yet Garp gives a rat’s ass about it. He’s loudly stated that sentiment once, which earned him a whack to the head by the mayor’s walking stick. The only plausible explanation for both Shanks and Garp’s weird obsession with haunted woods is that there lives a witch up there, among the wolves and werewolves, who has somehow cursed them for eternity.

Ever since Shanks started his weirdly routine, rumors have been going around about him. Over the years, they simmered down since Shanks’s simple explanation of loving the thrill and adventure is perfectly plausible for a man like him. The only people who still bewilderedly look on as Shanks disappears up the mountains are those who don’t come around very often.

The man is a difficult case to solve. But even with all that mystery surrounding him, Usopp can’t deny that he likes hanging out with him. What can he say, Makino’s husband is cool. There is no use in lying since all the people he usually hangs out with all think the same.

“ – shitty old man will kill me if I don’t hurry up.”

Usopp snaps out of his daydreaming when Sanji starts pulling the cart along again and he stumbles forward at the sudden impact. He catches himself just in time and the sound of Sanji’s laughter makes his ears turn bright red. As a way to save face, Usopp belatedly waves after his friend but Sanji doesn’t notice anymore.

He turns back to Chopper, who has gotten his hands on the pumpkin in the meantime. Usopp grins and rushes back to plant himself right next to the other again. He grabs the now dirty drawing and holds it out in front of Chopper, moving just his eyes above the top of the paper.

“What to learn how to carve a pumpkin?”

The beam in the youngster’s eyes tells Usopp all he needs to know and he grabs his arm to drag him back to his own home to find the most suitable pumpkin for such small hands.

* * *

Feeling himself getting more bored with every passing second, Luffy lets himself fall forward until he lies face down on his tree branch like a lazy panther, one hand holding his straw hat in place whilst the other arm dangles alongside his legs. His flip-flops have slipped off, now upside down on the grass below.

Down on the ground, standing in an open grass field not far from the shack, Ace and Sabo are sparring. It’s just his luck that they are even in strength, which means it takes forever just to finish one fight. His turn has yet to come, but with the way things are going, Luffy isn’t stupid enough to know it will take an awfully long time before he can finally fight with one of his brothers.

Luffy is a strong fighter, but annoyingly (albeit proudly as well) his brothers are stronger than him. Older brothers will always be stronger, Ace once told him when they were younger. Luffy hates that he is probably right, but that doesn’t mean he’ll stop trying until he’s going to reach above his brothers.

With his chin resting on the rough bark of the branch, Luffy starts to play with the red ribbon around his straw hat. He kicks his legs around like a whiny toddler as he starts to whine, “Aah! Hurry up! I want to fight too!” His brothers seemingly don’t hear him, so he comes up with a different method. He breaks off a tiny branch and throws it at Ace, hitting him square in the head. Ace flinches and temporarily stops his fight to throw it back.

“Don’t be a pest! Just be patient already, it’ll be your turn soon enough!”

“Don’t lose focus, Ace!” Sabo playfully shouts before he tackles his older twin to the ground. They wrestle around before Sabo is finally declared the winner. Luffy pushes himself when Ace drags himself to the wooden scoreboard on the other side of the field, letting out an excited ‘yes!’. However, once he sees the number ‘31’ get hastily written down with chalk, he throws a fist into the air and exclaims, “Damn it!”

Luffy deflates and sinks back into his lazy position, pouting when he hears his brothers starting to laugh at his despair. He groans and considers running back to the shack to drag his dad out to come and play when something almost golden-like catches his eye. He slightly tilts his head, looking away from his straw hat to squint his eyes at the strange new wonder down below.

His eyes widen in excitement when the strange object shapes itself in a large Hercules beetle, gently landing on one of the branches lower than his own. The insect starts crawling, Luffy’s eyes beginning to shine in newfound interest. If there is anything that Luffy loves the most in this forest, apart from his family, it’s the fascinating insects that live here as well. The Hercules and Atlas beetles are his absolute _favorite_. Every time he’s lucky enough to find one, he spends the whole day just staring at it in wonder. His brothers aren’t scared of insects, but they certainly don’t go out to look for them like Luffy does.

At least, not anymore.

“Yosh, let’s go.” He moves into a sitting position as fast as he can, reaching for his straw hat. He climbs completely onto the branch to push his knees closer together. He positions his feet in a firm place, wrapping his hands around the branch right next to them.

Like a monkey, Luffy jumps to the lower branches and starts swinging with ease from branch to branch. As a result of his sudden movements, the tree starts to shake as well. Luffy’s mouth falls open in a silent gasp as he watches the beetle take off again, flying straight out of his reach.

He jumps out of the tree and the second his toes touch the grass, Luffy’s legs transform into paws because they are so much faster than his human legs. He rockets himself forward, taking off after the beetle akin to a wolf on the hunt. His brothers, too caught up in their thirty-second sparring match, don’t notice him running away and Luffy feels a little glad about that. They would have tried to stop him, which is he can’t have that now. He only has one goal in mind and that is to see the beetle up close.

The beetle is fast, but so is Luffy. It’s dark but a wolf’s night vision is strong. Though he, unfortunately, didn’t inherit his dad’s cool golden eyes as Ace did, his vision is just as good which makes it easier to keep up with his speed and to find his way through the forest. The hoot of an owl, combined with the sound of crickets, accompany him on his way through the otherwise quiet forest. Wet leaves crack beneath his paws and it is only now that he realizes he’s going to have to go back barefoot if he changes back.

The moon is the only source of light, and Luffy basks in it. The many stories of his father about the importance of the moon to wolves and werewolves alike linger in the back of his mind, vividly remembering his dad promising his brothers and him that the moon would always protect them from any danger. Ace still struggles to believe it, but Luffy knows it’s the truth. He loves watching the moon, sometimes even talking to it when he is stuck on a problem.

The moon has never failed to watch over him. It’s that little knowledge that makes Luffy fear absolutely nothing.

He dashes between trees and bushes and finally, after what feels like he’s been running forever, he is able to close in on the beetle. He narrows his eyes and jumps forward, opening his big paws to catch the insect with them. He lets out an excited noise but it’s short-lived when he sees the ground suddenly seized to exist. He slowly looks down and finds himself standing on a hill just seconds before tumbling forward.

He rolls down the many leaves with a yell and comes to a halt when his back hits a tree, letting out an ‘oof’. Lying upside down, he sees his paws dangling above him as they turn back into his human feet. They are covered in dirt and Luffy can’t help but giggle at the sight of them. But when he sees the beetle escape from him, having been accidentally set free due to the sudden shock of crashing into a tree, he starts to pout.

Luffy lets out a breath and rolls himself back on his feet. Readjusting the straw hat, Luffy notices his strange surroundings. A confused expression makes way onto his face and he freezes for a short second before tilting his head to the side. He crosses his arms and walks forward, slowly, trying to find a familiar tree or another sign that will lead him back to his brothers.

His mind goes black.

There is absolutely nothing familiar about this part of the woods.

Luffy grimaces and chews on his lip, trying to make sense of the situation and find a way to get back home. His brothers will surely be wondering where is by now, will they? They somehow always know how to find him and as that fact lingers in the back of his head, Luffy finds no reason to start worrying. He’ll just run back in the direction he came from and bump into his brothers along the way.

He hits his fist into the palm of his hand with a grin and turns on his heels, ready to start running. When he feels something cold touch his feet, Luffy jumps back to immediately look down at the ground. He narrows his eyes, tilting his head to the side as he leans over to get a closer look. With no such thing as being careful, Luffy grabs the piece of metal he sees sticking out from underneath the leaves to pull it up with all of his might.

“Metal teeth?” Luffy wonders, turning the odd object in every possible direction. The metal is rusting, not having been used in what seems like forever. Luffy can’t stop himself from touching the teeth and when it starts to creak, it only takes a few seconds before the damn thing shuts close. With a yelp, just barely escaping being bitten, Luffy drops it. He glares at it and kicks it for good measure.

“Damn you.” He turns to scan the area further around him, seeing pieces of metal stick out from multiple places. Great, now he has to watch out to not be bitten by whatever the weird metal monster is.

But as he thinks of the awful quietness that surrounded him only a few moments ago, he is suddenly aware of the noises coming from behind him. Lots of noises, a mix of voices it seems, joined by the sound of bells ringing and what sounds like music. Luffy frowns and abruptly turns back around.

His eyes widen.

A tower he’s only seen from far away is now awfully close. It still stands outside his reach, but he has never seen the building look this big before. There are bright lights near the tower and the building itself appears to be wrapped in lots and lots of fairy lights. Luffy gulps and runs (careful not to touch the metal teeth) forward to duck behind a tree, just to be sure. He lurks around hit and his eyes start to shine at the sight of many more structures, surrounding the tower. A path leads the way from the forest towards the houses, located just a little below the woods. Luffy can make out a fence not too far from him and he realizes he’s crossed his dad’s borders, a voice in his head already telling him that his father won’t be happy about this.

 _Foosha Village_.

There is no doubt that this is the place where Shanks and gramps come from. Where Makino has that bar she always tells his brothers and him about whenever she has a chance to come up, which unfortunately is every half a year or something. It sucks, Luffy thinks. He really likes her.

His eyes follow the fairy lights up towards the top of the tower, seeing something akin to a clock in the center of the tower. Luffy’s heart starts to beat even faster when his eyes travel further to the vast sea to which the town is located right next to. He sees the variety of boats and though they are nothing but dots from his spot behind the tree, Luffy can only imagine how beautiful all of it looks up close.

He slowly lets go of the tree and with uncharacteristically slow steps, he makes his way towards the fence at the beginning of the path. He can’t help but giggle every time he sets a step forward, pebbles and tiny twigs digging into his bare soles. Just barely remembering that full humans will give him weird looks if he suddenly changes, he reaches out for the fence and firmly wraps his hand around it as he finally sets his first step outside the forest. He takes a deep breath and feels the need to start sniffing around him, the smells already so different from inside the woods. He digs his toes into the sandy path beneath him and briefly looks up at the moon before his curiosity takes over his rationality and he pushes himself forward.

“I bet the lights must come from this place,” Luffy whispers in awe, the sound of sand creaking with every step loud as there is no one around him as of yet. The further he walks down the hill, the closer he gets to the village and after a short while, he finds lights on the side of the path to guide him to the town. His ears perk up when the music gets louder with every step.

Just a couple minutes of walking later, Luffy finds himself lurking around the side of a wall. He looks up ahead of him and sees a long row of houses, each of them lower as the path leads the way down towards the main area of the village. It’s quiet up here as well since every human has to be at whatever fun party is down there. With light steps, Luffy makes his way down as he looks around him in wonder at the stone houses surrounding him. Already it’s vastly different from his house. He won’t complain about it, Luffy thinks as he finally reaches an actual road. He loves his home, he won’t trade it for anything in the world.

The road is cold and for the first time, Luffy wishes he had his flip-flops because this doesn’t feel very good on his feet. He scratches his head as he looks up to take in his surroundings. Flyers are lying on the ground, the same that Shanks had brought to the shack. Tied between the houses are colorful decorations. As he excitedly walks down the road, the decorations get more colorful and he can’t stop himself from keeping his eyes above him.

It’s not until a tiny body collides with him that he snaps his head back down. Luffy stumbles backward, barely able to not fall. He turns to his side to find a boy staring at him in shock, holding very familiar candy in his hands. Luffy’s eyes widen in fascination at the sight of the cotton candy. Ever since the time Shanks brought it with him, Luffy has been wanting to try it again.

His mouth starts to water and he can barely hear the boy loudly apologize for bumping into him before the kid runs off towards the music. Luffy turns around to follow the kid, the sound of his bare feet echoing loud against the cold stone road. He comes to a halt when he takes in the scene before him. The boy has long disappeared in the big crowd but Luffy has already forgotten about him. His mouth falls open and he reaches for his straw hat, holding the brim with tight fists to not explode with excitement.

It’s magnificent.

The sound of laughter fills the air, people roaming the streets from every corner that Luffy can see. Luffy has never seen this many humans in one place in his life. They are either walking in groups or alone, holding balloons, and more of that cotton candy. He hears the bells again, followed by clapping and cheering. It is then that he sees the fun games further ahead, which is the last push Luffy needs as he now can’t bring himself to turn around to find a way back home.

He bites his lip with a grin on his face and slowly wanders onto the lively market place, the future scolding he’ll undoubtedly get from his family long forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Though this chapter probably still feels a little slow, I wanted to establish the village a bit more with Usopp's pov and it was just fun to write the family bit without any drama just yet:') Also, I've always envisioned the ability to turn into a wolf, for my story, along the lines of Atsushi from Bungou Stray Dogs, but without the overly magic flair to it. In my mind, it gives me more to play around with:)
> 
> Next chapter, things will really start to kick into motion, so I can't wait for that! Just like I mentioned in the first chapter, I'll try to upload every two weeks due to my thesis so the next update will be on the 16th of November! Once again, thank you so much to everyone who already left kudos/comments/bookmarked this story thus far and I hope I can keep it interesting as I'm relearning how to write along the way:)
> 
> My other social media:  
> Tumblr: yu-na-yu & fernandesart


	3. The Festival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy sighs. How he wishes his brothers could see this too. They are probably going to be very angry when they find out where he is, but surely they’ll calm down once they see the beautiful ocean? He grins, of course they will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These past two weeks I've been feeling pretty off, so I couldn't properly focus on writing this chapter until three days ago. So apologies if there are still any grammatical mistakes!

When Luffy saw the lights for the first time, sitting high up in a tree a little too far to properly see what they really were, he was ecstatic. He had drawn squares, that were supposed to resemble the shapes he had seen floating through the sky, all over the wall the second he was left to his own devices, much to his mother’s dismay. The mixture of curiosity and excitement has never worn off, if anything the feelings have gotten stronger over the years. Kept locked away as a result of his family’s fright, the curiosity never got a proper chance to truly take over. Perhaps that is why now, as he descends the busy and colorful streets in wonder, he’s never felt as eager to explore as he does now.

The smooth, big stones that make up the long pavements feel cold against his bare soles, yet the many magical sights he finally gets to behold around him serve as a big enough distraction from the way his feet yearn the warmth of the soft grass in the woods. Like a baby deer who just learned how to walk, Luffy skips through the crowd of people, eyes finding a new wonder to inspect every passing second. Along both sides of every street that Luffy stumbles upon there are long lines of market stalls, each selling products and food that looks more fascinating than the previous one he’s seen. The food, easily caught by Luffy’s sensitive nose, smells absolutely delicious which means his mouth starts to water before he knows it.

The smell of meat, the smell of overall sweetness, Luffy has never been this overwhelmed with this many different scents. The desperate need to discover more of the village wins it over his usual urge to try every bit of food that he comes across, for so his feet walk him further down the streets. A low, brick wall blocks the way once Luffy stumbles out of the street, leaving him no choice but to follow the said wall towards the first sight of busy roads again. However, as Luffy sees something blue in the corner of his eye, he comes to a halt as he gawks at the big mass of water up ahead of him.

_The sea._

Luffy’s mouth falls open, his lips forming a massive grin as he eagerly leans over the wall with his arms crossed on top of the cold bricks. His toes are the only ones holding him on the ground, the stretch starting to hurt after just a matter of seconds but the view of the sea is enough to keep Luffy quiet for just a moment.

Never has he seen the sea in real life. He’s heard the many stories of Shanks’ voyages to magical islands, has had Sabo retell him about Noland’s times on his ship, but the stories pale in comparison to the real deal. It’s getting darker and the water reflects the few stars that have already shown them, glistering like diamonds in the calm sea.

Luffy sighs. How he wishes his brothers could see this too. They are probably going to be very angry when they find out where he is, but surely they’ll calm down once they see the beautiful ocean? He grins, of course they will. Ace has always been very vocal about wanting to feel the ocean around his ankles, even taste how salty it really is. If the situation they are in were any different, Luffy would have dragged his brother out to the sea in no time. It just isn’t fair how merely Ace’s eyes are enough to make him fear for his life.

What was it again? Humans don’t have golden eyes, therefore having made up scary stories about those who do. Scary stories that include witchcraft, demons, even the idea that they bring death to those around them. Luffy does not understand how humans are so stupid for actually believing in stories like that. As if Ace is a monster, as if his _father_ is a monster. It’s not right to start judging people before you even know them, let alone based on dumb kid stories.

Luffy takes a deep breath before pushing himself back onto his feet, away from the wall. He readjusts his straw hat, following the direction the wall takes him into. It leads him down a few stairs, eventually ending up in yet another busy street. He feels like he is looking at a massive rainbow, the tops of all the stalls in possibly every color that Luffy knows. Mindlessly, eyes moving up towards the lights hanging between the houses, Luffy steps down the stairs. He makes his way across the crowded street, head craning up in awe which makes that he doesn’t notice the man before him until he bumps into a broad back. It successfully snaps the young wolf out of his daze, grinning guiltily at the annoyed expression that gets thrown his way. He crosses his arms behind his head, a toothy grin as he carefully walks around the clearly irritated older man.

He sees the older human open his mouth to start ranting about – well, Luffy really doesn’t know, but he also doesn’t care anymore when the sound of music along with cheers pull him in from up ahead. His feet start running across the pavement with loud pitter-patter, the curiosity to find out where the music comes from taking over with ease.

It gets more crowded the further down he goes, so Luffy starts pushing his way through the humans with a strength that he is forever grateful for. He finally stumbles out of the crowd, skipping with one leg half in the air to stop himself from falling flat on his face. He finds himself on the town square, and much to his immense joy he is staring up at the tower he’s unmistakably has been looking at from afar for all these years. His eyes begin the sparkle, clumsily stepping forward as his glance can’t be torn away from the tall building that seems so much more magical up close. It is attached to a little house, both with a red roof and white bricks. A big clock is located right in the middle, golden clock hands shining. Lights decorate the tower, running up against the wall.

Who knew the tower would be even more beautiful up close?

The sound of bell ringing, followed by the sounds of clapping and cheering, is the sound that manages to shift Luffy’s attention away from the tower. It is only now that he sees the many strange-looking, what appear to be, games that surround the tower. Kids on plastic ponies are shouting with glee, in the midst of a circle of different stalls each showcasing a different game. Fascinating machinery that allows people to slam moles, moving up and down, people with fishing rods, even people shooting at moving objects with actual guns.

Luffy doesn’t know much about guns, other than that they are capable of very dangerous actions in the hands of the wrong person. He’s only seen guns up close twice, one of which was when his dad found a deserted one somewhere in the forest, which led to his brothers and him being lectured on the many dangers of guns and whatnot. He sure does hope these guns won’t accidentally kill someone tonight.

Little kids run by Luffy, their loud giggles forcing his attention down to the little humans, away from the strange shooting game. The kids are holding stuffed toys in their arms, stuffed toys that Luffy has noticed hang from the stalls as well. The cute laughter puts a smile on the young wolf’s face, a twinkle in his eyes as he watches their frantic parents try to keep up with their little ones. The adorable sight reminds him of all the times his mother used to chase his older brothers and him around the forest, whenever they tried to escape their household duties. She has done it a few times now that they are older, but they are no longer babies that need their mother to constantly reprimand them.

At least, Ace said something along those lines. He did take the effort to point out that Luffy didn’t count because he would always be a baby, regardless of his age. Bastard.

As the little kids run in the general direction of the shooting game, Luffy’s eyes easily find the small group of people gathered around the stall as they cheer on whoever is playing right now. Interests truly piqued, Luffy makes his way across the town square to go and check it out himself. The gunshots sound loud in his sensitive ears, yet he won’t let it chase him away. On his way over, he doesn’t forget to still stare at all the other machinery and stalls in nothing short of childlike wonder, eyes following the yellow dinger that is supposed to hit a bell at the top. He chuckles when it doesn’t happen, the people around the poor player still clapping for him.

His mouth starts to water again at the fluffy, sugary goods he finds being handed out to other children, each of them jumping up and down in anticipation as the woman behind the stall leans down to hand them their own stick. He should really try and get it himself after figuring out what’s the deal with the shooting game.

When it gets close enough, Luffy halts in front of the small crowd. The stall looks like it came straight out of Noland’s storybook. Luffy’s gawks in awe at the colorful patches at the bottom of the stall, eyes slowly traveling up to the name written in big letters, next to a funny looking drawing of a bunny running away.

 _Disk Shooting Gallery_ is what is says. Luffy is still none the wiser. There are rows of stuffed toys hanging from the top of the stall here as well, dangling along as the current player fires another bullet at a moving target. Luffy walks closer, moving his head to the side to get a better look around the group of people. He places his hands on the table once he gets next to them, leaning over to find a long-nosed human manning the stall. The boy is leaning against a pole, arms crossed as he watches the human with the gun miserably fail at hitting any of the moving disks.

Now the name makes sense, Luffy proudly thinks to himself.

The person shooting is a girl with orange hair, but unlike Dadan’s wide curly mess, it is neatly secured in a ponytail. She is getting frustrated with every moving target, the long-nose remarking, “Come on, Nami. I thought you were good at this.”

“Shut up, asshole! You’re distracting me with all your shit-talking.”

The girl doesn’t move to look at the grimace that shows on long-nose’s face, her focus still on the disks as they move out of her vision. The blond guy right next to her, smoke passing his lips in somehow a much more elegant manner than Dadan (who has always managed to amaze Luffy with the sheer amount of cigs she can fit in one go), clasps his hands together as he says with a high pitched voice, “Nami-swan has shot my heart with the accuracy of Cupid himself!”

He is completely ignored by ‘Nami-swan’, instead met with loud groans coming from the group around him. The only one slightly amused appears to be a woman with slick black hair, warmly tucked under a tattooed arm. It sparks yet another weird reaction from the smoker-guy, one that Luffy already fails to understand. He loses interest in them, attention instead going to Nami as she finally manages to hit a target, though merely. The disk disappears, Luffy leaping forward in surprise as he starts to smile widely, now completely feeling the need to play whatever this is.

Nami smirks, finally happy with the game. Long-nose takes the gun from her, a sigh leaving his lips as he speaks, “Damn it, I for sure thought you’d fail again this year. Thanks a lot, Nami. Now I’m going to have to give money to Zoro of all people.”

“Eh? Is that such a bad thing? Zoro never has any, I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.” A little guy chirps, Luffy finding himself pleasantly surprised when he recognizes the kid from earlier. Long-nose groans, patting the kid on his head. “No, it really isn’t! Now I’m going to be broke while Zoro is going to spend _my_ well-earned money on more fucking swords.”

“Chill out, Usopp-bro!” Tattoo-man loudly speaks, “Zoro isn’t even here. He probably already forgot about it.” It doesn’t seem like Usopp believes him, but he doesn’t try to argue against it.

Luffy’s eyes zoom in on the gun in Usopp’s hands, the twinkle back in his eyes as his mouth starts to move before he can stop himself.

“That’s – that’s so cool! How you’d do that? Can I try it?”

Going by the way Usopp-bro jumps half a feet into the air at the sound of Luffy’s admittedly loud voice. The conversation held between the small group simmers down, all now truly noticing his presence. Luffy stares at Usopp with an excited smile on his face, the human all but gawking at him as the gun hangs loosely in his hands. He can almost see the gears turning in his head, the confusion of a strange voice slowly changing into a friendly, yet still ever so wary, grin.

Usopp’s friends snap out of their momentary shock as well, Nami fluttering her eyes before moving out of the way for Luffy. She gestures with her hand as well when Luffy doesn’t make any movements. The young wolf quickly jumps forward, the joyful spring in his feet not going unnoticed when the same young lady who was amused by the blonde smoker laughs, sounding just like his mother whenever she finds him funny.

He likes her already.

The little guy from earlier looks up at him with wide eyes, still holding onto the candy. He turns a little red for a reason Luffy doesn’t understand before leaning on the stall as he says, voice sounding ashamed, “I’m still very sorry for walking you over, sir. I didn’t even properly apologize, so I’ve been feeling very guilty this whole time.” Luffy grins at him, resisting the urge to pet his cute little hat the way his dad always does.

“No worries! It didn’t even hurt!” The kid gets a big smile on his face, turning his attention to the targets in the back. Usopp has pushed a few buttons, having stopped the disks from running away. Long-nose points at them as he explains, “All you gotta do, is hit the disks. You have eight turns in total, the closer you hit the bullseye, the more points you score. Easy, right? Also, let me quickly show you to use the gun, since you’re holding it all wrong.”

“Am I?” Luffy tilts his head to the side. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise, since Shanks only showed him once how to use a gun when he was seven. It was cut short due to his mother not appreciating the redhead teaching a toddler how to shoot a gun, something she swore he’d never do in real life.

Usopp chuckles friendly, taking the gun to show Luffy how to hold and shoot the thing. Making sure that Luffy understands it, he hands it back to him and carefully watching the black wolf try to copy the curly-haired human. Once he receives a thumbs up from Usopp, Luffy grins and aims the gun at the targets ahead of him. His tongue sticks out, one eye closed as he tries to aim for the bullseye. It’s going to be much more fun to brag about scoring high points than no points at all, after all. He pulls the trigger, a cork shooting out much to his surprise. The sudden bang makes Luffy staggers backward a little bit, his soles slipping on the smooth pebbles. He stands ground, watching with a pout as the cork hits the plastic wall behind the disks.

Seeing his deflated position, Usopp loudly pats the table as he encourages, “That was only one out of eight, bro. You still have seven more chances!”

“Yosh, let’s try again.” Luffy, therefore, declares, patting his own straw hat as a good luck charm. He puts the gun back onto his shoulder, imitating Nami from earlier. Said girl is watching with great interest, leaning over the table herself as she eyes Luffy with big brown eyes. The little guy on his other side is enthusiastic, staring at Luffy in apparent awe. He watches his every move, even though he just lost his first shot.

Luffy feeds off the exciting energy around him, now also knowing how the gun works. He aims again, pulling the trigger at just the right moment as he hits the disk right in the middle of the drawn-on circles. It shocks Usopp but Luffy lets out a ‘whoop’ as he drops the gun to wildly points his finger at the shot-at disk, “I did it!”

The tingling sensation he usually feels when he changes his hands into paws starts itching, the pointing finger growing just a bit hairier. Luffy immediately pulls his hand back, sticking it into his pocket to quickly change it back. He turns his head around him, feeling relief when he sees they are staring at the target but no longer him in particular. Hopefully, the good luck charm has prevented any of them from seeing the tiny bit of change as well.

No one says a thing or looks at him weird though, so Luffy takes his chances. At the urging of Usopp, he aims again. And again. And again. Until he is down to his last cork, now having a big number to brag about when he tells about his time here in secret to his brothers tonight. He is having fun, so much fun. Nothing in the world will ever top causing havoc in the woods with his brothers, chasing tigers, catching birds. Yet Luffy has always adored trying new things, which is a bit hard when you’re not allowed to go anywhere else besides that what you’ve grown accustomed to. It is much unlike Ace, who can only be settled with keeping things the same these days, just because it’s the safer option.

Luffy naturally understands where it comes from. He just can’t feel the same way as his older brother.

In his utmost focus on hitting one last disk, Luffy doesn’t notice the way it suddenly goes quiet around him, the little group of humans having all turned around to stare at the two figures that joined them in the same unexpected manner Luffy has done. The darker aura is not to be missed though, both of them glaring at Luffy. He is oblivious, not for the first time in his life, to the heavy sound of boots across the pavement before it comes to a halt right behind him. His ears only pick it up when he feels a hand wrap around his upper arm, a hand that feels ever so familiar when nails dig into his very naked skin without a sense of gentleness.

Luffy turns his head to the side, the gun still high in the air, and meets a pair of angry grey eyes. Sabo’s glare, one that he has grown a bit too used to over the years, is piercing through his skull like a sharp dagger. His right eye starts to twitch when he notices the gun in his little brother’s hands, narrowing at the weapon. Right behind Sabo, a pair of sunglasses leer over his shoulder at the youngest, no doubt hiding a furious glare. Ace looks pissed, an emotion Luffy needn’t see eyes to have come to that conclusion. His arms are crossed across his chest, his yellow shirt fully displaying said chest. His cowboy hat lays forgotten on his back, the wild locks of hair framing his face in a murderous expression.

“Ah, Sabo!” Luffy squeaks, the gun dropping on the table with an annoyingly loud bang now that everyone has stopped speaking. Usopp and his group of friends are watching them like zoo animals, no doubt trying to figure out why these two guys look like they want to make Luffy meet his end right here and now. In a way, they are right. Sabo and Ace do look like they want to kill him for not listening to them.

Which, is an expression that they’ve sported many times in the past. Nothing should scare him anymore when it comes to his brothers, yet here he is, getting nervous about whatever it is they are planning to do.

“Let’s go,” Sabo grits through his teeth, his hand tightening as he pulls Luffy backwards through the small crowd who on immediately move out of the way. Ace quickly follows, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his black jeans with his eyes solely focused on Luffy, who stumbles over his own feet as he tries to keep up with the fast walking Sabo. His arms flail around like a ragdoll, no doubt making the trio look even more ridiculous as they make their way across the plaza without saying another word. Luffy tries to soften his brother’s glare by trying to grin at him, to no avail. If anything, Ace gets redder in the face, which would have been funny were it not for the fact that it means nothing good for Luffy’s future.

Being pulled backwards means Luffy can’t keep track of where they are heading, which is why it feels very sudden when he gets pushed into a quiet alley. Sabo isn’t in the mood to be gentle, throwing his little brother headfirst into the alleyway. Luffy trips and rolls forward like an empty barrel until his back hits the wall at the end of the alley. A groan escapes his lips but he has no time to recover as Ace pulls him upwards, grabbing his jacket to force him in a seated position. He dramatically rips off his sunglasses, curls his hands around the front of Luffy’s jacket, and snaps in a harsh whisper, “I will gut you like a fish when we’re back home! What the hell were you thinking! Learn to listen when someone warns you about real-life dangers, damn it!”

To emphasize his points, Ace shakes Luffy until the younger starts to look green in the face. Sabo grabs the back of Ace’s yellow shirt to pull him away from their little brother, dragging him back on his feet only to push him behind him. Luffy rubs his head as he crosses his legs to pout at his angry brothers. Sabo doesn’t say anything, which is scarier than Ace’s pissed off rant. Luffy starts to twiddle his thumbs, “I’m sorry, alright? But it wasn’t even my fault!”

“What, you mean to tell me someone else told you to cross the borders?” Ace scoffs, looking over Sabo’s shoulder like an angry cat.

“I was chasing a beetle!” Luffy exclaims, “I was chasing a beetle, who flew all the way to the borders. Before I knew it, I was in parts of the woods that I didn’t recognize. I wanted to go back, I really did! But then I saw the village –” Sabo sighs loudly, which Luffy takes as a sign to continue louder, “ – and I thought, ‘why not?’”

Sabo pinches the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb, eye twitching for what feels like the hundredth time tonight. Ace gawks at his little brother like he’s lost his mind, lips moving like a fish out of the water. He wants to say something, no doubt telling Luffy just how insane he is, but Sabo is quicker as he groans, “ _Why not_? You’re asking all the wrong questions! You are so lucky we went after you, think of all the things that could have gone wrong if someone found out you aren’t exactly like them.”

“You should have turned back when you saw the village, just like we’ve been told to do ever since we learned how to walk!” Ace cries out, wildly gesturing into the general direction of the forest high up the mountain. He looks back at Luffy and seeing the deflated figure, his eyes soften for the first time since he got here. Ace sighs as he walks around Sabo to ruffle Luffy’s hair, pushing the straw hat down when he says, “Oi, I’m – fuck, I’m sorry for yelling, but you really need to learn just how stupid this is. You know the stories, they won’t hesitate to kill the unknown in sudden fits of rage or fear. I don’t want to lose you. Just as much as I don’t want to lose anyone else in our family.”

Luffy stares at his brother, who musters up the will to grin at him though it is not nearly as carefree as back home. He plays with the cord of his straw hat, a pout as he speaks, “But I had fun.”

“Eh, fun? How can you – what did you do?” Ace stutters, raising an eyebrow as he looks at his little brother in confusion. Sabo walks up to them, tilting his head to the side like a lost puppy at Luffy’s sudden declaration.

The youngest begins the beam, his fingers curling up in fists as stars start to twinkle in his big eyes. “This place is so – so beautiful! I’ve seen the sea, Ace! It’s amazing, I wish you were there. And the streets – they are so colorful, it’s like a massive rainbow! They play music everywhere I go, and games! _I_ played one of those! If you showed up a little later, I could have finished it. But that’s okay, I know Ace and Sabo were only doing their job as my big brothers.”

The argument laying on Ace’s tongue quickly dies out, a flush now burning on his cheeks. Sabo drops his shoulders, tension ebbing away as he smiles at his excited little brother. He runs his fingers through his blonde hair, his eyes roaming all over Luffy’s beaming expression as if to search for a hidden sign of distress. He aimlessly scratches under his nose, gears turning with high speed in his head. Luffy is still watching him with stars in his eyes, which leads Sabo to eventually heaven a sigh before carefully asking, curiosity very poorly hidden, “So, that gun was a game of some sort?” Luffy wildly nods, “No real bullets?”

“I don’t remember what the long-nose said, but I do know they were harmless!” Luffy is eager to explain, which fuels Sabo’s want to ask more questions. He steps closer to his little brother as he continues with the same curiosity, ignoring the indignant look on Ace’s face, “And you were really, _really_ safe? There wasn’t a sign of them noticing something – well, let’s just say ‘off’ about you?”

Luffy picks his nose, which was an action waiting to happen. “Not for as far as I’m concerned. They just treated me like a stranger, I guess.”

Sabo hums, his face contorted in thought. Ace looks between his brothers with narrowed eyes, the dislike for whatever is going on in Sabo’s mind obvious in the way he gawks at his brother after connecting the dots. He lets out a humorless little laugh, “Whatever it is you are thinking, stop it right now. We are not staying here.”

“Well, I mean –” “No, absolutely not! Weren’t you the one who reminded Luffy of risks that come by staying here?” Ace immediately cuts his twin off, situating him right in between his brothers to stare Sabo right in the eyes. The blonde groans and holds up his hand at his brother, “Ace, come on. I know what I’ve said but look at Luffy. I’ve not seen him _this_ excited in a long while. And that’s saying something.”

Ace scoffs, “Are you insinuating that Luffy is unhappy?”

“Don’t twist my words, moron. I’m merely saying that Luffy has not jumped out of his skin with excitement in a while, not counting the few times Shanks has shown up.” Luffy feverishly nods along, “Nothing will ever be as fun as playing in the forest with you guys, but this is a different kind of fun! Can – can we please stay for just a little longer? I’ll promise to never return, ever again.”

Sabo scratches his head as he looks over his shoulder towards the bright lights coming from the main streets of the village. “Ace _is_ wearing sunglasses and you said nobody batted an eye at you for the wrong reasons. You’re also not alone now since Ace and I can keep an eye on you in case things may get out of our control. Which I naturally won’t let happen.”

“But –” Ace looks almost helplessly between his brothers, a hand aimlessly flailing in the direction of the forest. “How can you even consider this? Even if we were to keep an eye on him, I don’t like having you two among people who will sell us to the Navy given the chance!” He drops his arms, which Luffy knows is a sign that he is about to give up. Maybe he shouldn’t gang up on his older brother with Sabo, but regardless of his own need to discover more of the village, he wants Ace to see it too. Ace deserves to see the sea just as much as he did, which means that Luffy will do anything to make that happen.

“Ace, please! We’ll just stick together, like we always do! And I know you can keep us safe because you’re my big brother.” Luffy skips towards the oldest to grab his arm. He looks up at him with a wide grin, which he knows Ace has never been immune to. Sabo joins them, patting Ace on the head knowing that he hates it. Ace pushes him away, but Sabo still smiles softly at him as he says, “One night won’t hurt, right? I’ll make sure that after tonight, Luffy will stay within the borders. As will I, of course.”

“If this goes wrong, I will kill both of you. I mean it. You are both going to wish you listened to me in the first place.”

“Yes!” Luffy gives his brother a tight hug, arms wrapping around his torso in a deathly grip. He wastes no time running out of the alley, much to Ace’s panic. Sabo’s eyes widen for a short moment before he takes off after his little brother, stumbling out of the alley in record time. Ace briefly looks up at the sky, already regretting it, and runs after his two little brothers.

* * *

“Get back here!”

Ace’s regret begins to kick in like a punch to the stomach, watching his little brother all but vanish in front of as Luffy pushes his way through the ridiculously crowded street. Sabo is hot on Luffy’s tail, pushing past the slowed Ace to run after the overjoyed Luffy. Ace is faster, managing to get a hold of Sabo’s coat just in time to pull him back. The blonde throws a look over his shoulder as he skips to a sudden halt with Ace pulling him backwards with a sharp tug. Sabo starts pulling back immediately, “What are you doing? Luffy is getting out of our sight.”

“I can’t lose you out of my sight as well, can I?!” Ace snaps, speaking up because the people around him are speaking too loud for his liking. Sabo then rips the coat out of Ace’s tight hands, stumbling into the crowd with a guilty smile on his face, “Come on, big bro, let’s catch up with the little shit.”

He disappears out of Ace’s view in a matter of second, much to Ace’s dismay. Not for the first time in his life, Ace curses his little brothers. It is a fact that he loves them more than anything else in the world, he would even go as far as to say that he is terribly weak-minded when it comes to those two. If it wasn’t for that, he would have personally dragged their asses back home.

Which is exactly why he curses them as well. First, they shamelessly take advantage of his weakness, which, granted, is not a huge surprise since they’ve been doing that ever since birth. It’s the fact that they, then, secondly proceed to ignore all of his warnings, running wild like a couple of geese.

It’s exhausting.

Exhausting and quite honestly, fearsome. The prospect of losing the two scares him more than death itself. He will never understand Luffy’s mentality of learning more about their human side as for Ace, their mother is more than enough. It’s frustrating that Sabo is ever so curious as well, no matter how much he tries to hide it from Ace. He is much more careful, much more aware of the risks than Luffy ever will, yet it’s clear as day that he too wants to know more every passing day.

It has left Ace feeling stuck, slowly losing the grip he once securely had on his two brothers. The more he tries to be a protective older brother, the more he feels like they want to go explore.

What is he supposed to do? Have them hate him for eternity because he tries to keep them safe? Ace prefers them being angry at him much over finding them in the hands of the Navy, all things considered. His parents have told him countless times that he shouldn’t be taking on the burden of playing the big protector, but Ace can’t do that. Not only does he need to be strong enough to be able to protect his brothers from harm, but also be there in case something happens to their parents. He knows the old man is strong, though he will never tell that to his face. Ace just hates feeling helpless.

He’s been helpless every time Sabo was getting picked on back at Baterilla, helpless because the same was happening to him. Never again does he want to feel that way.

Ace briefly closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and gets ready to push his way through the crowd after his brothers. However, a sudden hand on his shoulder makes him freeze right on the spot. His heart starts pounding against his ribcage, the back of his neck suddenly feeling very hot as he swallows away the brief moment of panic. Mustering up his best glare, Ace turns his head around almost in slow motion. He looks at whoever, _whatever_ , dared to touch him but the red eyes piercing through his skull quickly drain all the blood in his face.

Shanks is staring at him like he’s grown a second head, eyes moving up and down as if to check that Ace is not a figment of his imagination. He helplessly moves his hand from his face to gesture to the young wolf in front of him, even going as far as to touch his hair. Ace flinches at the touch, ducking his head to make Shanks snap out of it. The redhead looks up at the sky as if to say a prayer before painfully squeezing Ace’s shoulder.

“Tell me you are here to visit me with your dad’s permission or so help my soul.”

Ace pushes his tongue against the inside of his cheek, avoiding eye contact with his uncle-in-all-but-name. He hears Shanks sigh loudly, seeing the man slap his hand over his face as he dramatically pulls it down. The man then, without warning, grabs Ace’s collar to drag him into the direction he came from earlier. Ace wastes no time in struggling, hissing as he firmly plants his boots on the pavement, “Let go, Luffy and Sabo are somewhere out there and I’m going to completely lose them if you start meddling like this!”

“What do you mean – why are you all three here?” Shanks exclaims, looking up at the crowd with a dumbstruck expression on his face. Ace pulls again, but the older seems to have other plans for him in mind. With a mighty pull, he makes Ace stumble against his side before whispering loudly, “It doesn’t bode well with me that I’ve got two rug rats on the loose that are supposed to be at a place far, _far_ away from here. However, I will not let you get lost all by yourself because that will only make things worse.”

Shanks is holding Ace a little too tight for his liking, like a dog that needs to be leashed. He starts thrashing wildly again, “It won’t, damn it! You’re making me lose them, let me go me! I can do this just fine on my own!”

“I don’t think you can, kiddo. I can’t in good conscience let you run around like a madman! Let’s just –”

“Well, well, well. I didn’t know you bagged yourself a kid, Shanks.”

Shanks stops talking, even stops trying to hold Ace still, at the sound of a new voice bellowing behind them. Ace gives the redhead one last kick, but Shanks stays quiet, no reaction showing Ace he even felt the boot up his shin. So he turns around in confusion, his guard all the way up.

Three men are standing in the middle of the street, the people around the group giving them space as they all make way for them to pass by. They look around with a sense of cockiness that Ace doesn’t appreciate. The apparent leader, standing high and mighty in the middle, moves his eyes around with a creepy smile that shows Ace just how many teeth the man is actually missing. He looks greasy, yet proudly displays three guns around his waist. His two lackeys trail not too far behind, both grinning in an equally unsettling manner.

An uneasy feeling settles in his stomach as he watches a handful of people greet the men with a hint of respect in their voices. The leader smiles at them, a smile that could hunt his nightmares if Ace would let it. He shakes their hands, gloating as the people thank him for whatever service he’s done them.

Shanks’ hardened expression hasn’t loosened up by the time Ace turns away from the three men, if anything it’s gotten worse. The young wolf frowns. He’s only seen Shanks look this serious when he came home with a crying Luffy in his arm whilst having lost the other. It wasn’t even the fact that he’d lost a limb, it was the fact that Luffy had gotten into a life-threatening situation before the redhead was able to prevent that. It was a moment most important in Ace’s life, as he’d gained a whole new level of respect for the man.

Ace’s immediate distrust in the three men now feels even more justified.

The leader drags his feet as he walks closer to Shanks, a squeaking sound reaching Ace’s ears. The shuffling hurts, but he doesn’t have much time to think about it when the man is suddenly dangerously close, so much so that Ace can smell his breath. It’s disgusting.

The man grins at Shanks but finds Ace much more interesting as he gestures towards the sunglasses. “Ain’t it a bit too dark to be wearing sunglasses at this hour, kid?” Not one to stand down, despite the daunting realization that the man is right, Ace glares right back at him. Shanks breaks the tension, pulling Ace a little closer as he says, his voice low, “Leave the kid alone, Teach.”

“He really belongs to you then, aye?”

The challenge doesn’t go unheard, the grin even more taunting than it was before. Shanks squeezes Ace’s shoulder as a protective stance, not once losing eye contact with the other.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

Ace looks at Shanks with a thousand questions on his mind, not used to the uncharacteristically bitter reaction. Teach rolls his eyes, resting his hand on one of the guns as he mutters under his breath, “I will never understand how you are so likable among the most impressionable of this town. Disgraceful.”

With no sense of guilt, Teach pushes Shanks aside like he weighs nothing to continue his way. His two lackeys quickly catch up with him, babbling on about god knows what. They don’t notice the lack of attention, as Teach stares Ace down as he passes by him, a nasty smile on his face that Ace will not soon forget. Shanks’ protective arm around him pulls the wolf out of the way, the glare on his face until the three are gone in the crowd.

Ace turns back to look at Shanks, “Who was that?”

Shanks sneers, catching him off guard. He curses under his breath, briefly narrowing his eyes into the direction of Teach. He licks his lips and finally speaks, leaning in closer to say in a loud whisper, “That right there, that was the head of the small crew of hunters that have been sent here by the government. He is a dangerous man, Ace.”

“Hunter?!” Ace blurts loudly, Shanks immediately slapping a hand over his mouth. Ace’s eyes widen as he turns to look at the place where Teach just walked. Hunters are the stuff of nightmares, more deathly than any other human. Ace’s heart pounds against his chest as he slowly begins to realize that they can see what the average resident cannot.

Teach’s constant glancing into his direction has suddenly become much more terrifying.

“You need to leave while you still can. Teach is not to be messed with, especially not when he starts to suspect something. He doesn’t stop until he gets what he wants. Let’s find your brothers and get you out here. I’ll come with – hey, Ace!”

Ace doesn’t wait for Shanks to finish as every passing second is a second wasted. Ignoring the redhead behind him, Ace pushes through the crowd as he runs after Teach, feverishly reminding himself it is the same direction his brothers disappeared into. People throw annoyed glances over their shoulders when Ace bumps into them, all of which go to waste as Ace is only focused on finding the other two before Teach might get to them. If he is lucky, which is rarely is, the fucker might not even recognize them as werewolves but Teach seems like a guy who won’t miss a thing.

Ace turns to look at every corner and stumbles out of the street when a wall blocks his way, leading him towards a couple of stairs. He looks to his side and finds his breath being stolen for just a second.

Luffy was right. The ocean is even more beautiful when it’s not a drawing in a book.

He wishes he had more time to stare at the waters, but Ace can’t spend his time trailing around. He dashes for the stairs, almost falling off of them in his hurry to find his brothers. It’s not very difficult to find the first place he wants to look for them, since Luffy’s excitement about the weird shooting game was all he could talk about.

When he arrives, there are still too many people to give him a proper overview of the place. The sound of a bell ringing echoes loudly, soon followed by obnoxious clapping. It is too loud here, Ace finds as he shuts one eye in discomfort. Scratching of the feet, another fucking bell, more music, Ace’s poor ears can’t possibly keep up with all of this.

How he prefers the sounds of chirping birds and roaring tigers. He wants to go home.

His eyes manage to lock onto the shooting game where he found Luffy and as he has no other option, Ace runs across the plaza straight for the booth on the other side of it. He looks around him still, trying to find either a blue coat or the damned straw hat. He runs his hands over his face, trying to calm himself. They’re alright, they have to be. Sabo won’t be stupid enough to let anything happen to Luffy, he won’t.

Two loud voices shouting his name snap Ace out of his panicked thoughts. He stutters to a halt and turns around to find his two brothers running up to him, Luffy waving his arms to draw his attention. However, Ace’s relief is but short-lived when Sabo is close enough for him to see the grimace on his face.

Once they are within his reach, Ace grabs both of them to pull them against him. Luffy is out of breath, tugging Ace’s sleeve, “Someone is chasing us, Ace! I don’t even know what we’ve done wrong!”

Ace narrows his eyes at him, turning to Sabo for a clearer answer. His twin is trying to drag them to move along, gritting his teeth as he says, “It didn’t occur to Luffy that he needs to pay for food, which is why that man over there is pissed beyond reason.”

The mention of the merchant makes Ace finally notice a man running up to them with his arms raised, “You two! Pay for the food you stole, little shits!”

Ace digests the new information and successfully resists the urge to tell them off. Instead, he pushes Luffy in front of him as he hisses, “All the more reason to leave. I don’t have time to explain, but there are hunters here. Let’s get out of here before they start noticing there are three strangers, and not just one.”

Sabo frowns in confusion, eyes wide in shock, “What do you mean?” Ace puts his hand against the back of his brother’s head to push him forward as well, “Listen when I speak! I don’t have time to explain, now let’s move!”

“Yosh, let’s go!”

Luffy runs ahead of his brothers, skittering between the crowd with ease. Ace and Sabo go after him, the enraged shouts behind them somehow making the situation funnier than it’s allowed to be. Luffy’s loud giggles echo through the air, holding his hat as he ducks to run between two people. Sabo laughs breathlessly, looking at Ace in the corner of his eye as the two run into the first street they see. They catch up with Luffy, who is still laughing loudly even with bare feet looking as red as his jacket. Ace shouldn’t have dumped the flip-flops on their bed after they came home to quickly steal his father’s old pair of sunglasses.

He’s going to have to dump his brother’s feet into the water once they’re back home.

Luffy accidentally kicks over a stack of baskets, stumbling his way through them to keep up with his brothers. The woman’s cries for him to clean it up go unheard as a familiar redhead comes out of nowhere to help her. Luffy’s smile widens at the sight of Shanks, who only throws a wink over his shoulder. Ace shakes his head and pulls Luffy with him, knowing that if he won’t, his brother _will_ run up to jump on Shanks’ back.

Having Shanks distract most of the other villagers sure does help, especially when Ace sees the mess they’ve left behind in their haste to get back to the sandy path up the hill. Soon, the music fades away and as they run up the hill, Ace feels like he can take a breath again. Sabo is laughing next to him, a hand resting on his shoulder as they slow down their running. He smiles at his blonde twin and flicks his index finger against his temple just to have some sort of punishment for running away from him.

“Ah! My hat!”

Luffy’s loud cries make them both freeze on the spot and when Ace turns around, he watches Luffy run back down again with his straw hat rolling down the hill as well. Ace can’t stop the gasp from leaving his lips and he leaves Sabo to his own devices as he sprints after his reckless little brother. He won’t let either of them escape his sight again, not when they’re this close to getting back home. “Get back here, Lu! We’ll get it later!”

“No!” Luffy yells, “I can’t lose it, I need it back!” Ace makes one last big step and grabs the red jacket’s collar to pull the younger against his chest. Luffy starts to struggle, even dares to hit Ace in the face as he whines, “Ace let go, I need to get it! That’s Shanks’ and dad’s hat, it’s too important!

Ace doesn’t let go and drags the struggling teen back up the mountain to head towards the patiently waiting Sabo, who has already reached the fence. “We’ll get it back, alright? I promise you right now that I’ll make sure you’ll have it back by tomorrow. We are not risking anything right now, so hate me all you want, we are not going back now. Trust me, I’ll get it back.”

Luffy gives him one last kick and pouts, looking up at his brother with tearful eyes. Ace would be a liar to say that that doesn’t pull any of his heartstrings. Luffy sniffs and wipes his nose with the top of his hand, “You really promise?”

“I’m your big brother, would I really lie to you?”

It manages to make Luffy smile just a little bit and he pushes Luffy towards Sabo, straight into the safe forest. It doesn’t stop the moaning over the lost hat, but Ace much prefers listening to his endless whining than go back and risk getting caught.

He readies himself to follow his brothers but when he looks over his shoulder one last time, his breath hitches at the sight of a guy holding Luffy’s hat in his hands. How he hasn’t noticed them being followed by the blonde man is beyond him, but there he stands, looking at the straw hat with a raised eyebrow that already ticks off Ace.

“Fuck,” he curses. He very briefly considers going back but in the short time he takes to find his brothers too far ahead, the man has disappeared. With the straw hat. Ace angrily kicks against the fence and finally runs after his brothers, a scowl firmly placed on his face as he makes the rash decision to go back alone tomorrow.

He’ll be damned if he lets his brothers get too close to humans again.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be on the 30th of November:)  
> Social media - Tumbr: yu-na-yu & fernandesart


	4. The Whale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He looks up, eyes finding the fat whale swaying in the soft wind. His eyes travel down again, towards the big window on his right. With slow steps, Ace walks in front of the glass and glances inside, a confused look on his face at the sight of dolls in the window still. There are bottles in weird shapes as well, through which Ace can see his own reflection.
> 
> He looks up at the big letters, plastered all over the window: The Moby Dick. Ace narrows his eyes at the name. He swears he’s heard that name before. Or at least read it somewhere. That must have been Sabo’s doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was a bit tired whilst editing this chapter, so excuse the grammar mistakes!

Marco has never been a fan of Thatch’s outrageous chanties that he always drunkenly bellows at parties and festivals, mostly because he usually gets dragged into it against his will. However, as he walks downs the stairs to get _The Moby Dick_ ready for the day, he finds himself whistling the very song that Thatch couldn’t stop singing last night. He’s twirling the keys in his hand, heading straight towards the two front doors on the other side of the massive store.

In the comfortable quietness of the early morning, Marco can hear his siblings chatting away in the warehouse at the back of the store as they get shipments ready to be sent off to the surrounding islands. The shouts carry through to the front of the shop, busy feet jogging up and down from the warehouse to the small port just outside _The Moby Dick_.

With a lazy smile, Marco’s eyes travel up to the ceiling of the shop to watch the many chandeliers and little knick-knacks, tied around the sturdy beams, light up one by one as the sun shines his light through the big windows. The glass bottles, stalled at the shop windows, paint the tiles many different colors, which is something Marco will never get tired of seeing.

 _The Moby Dick_ has been Marco’s home ever since Pops adopted him all these years ago. He loves the shop, loves explaining the history of certain goods to interested customers, and most of all, he loves his family with whom he has the joy to work every single day. Working with family can be tough at times because not a single one of them is too scared to share their opinions on shop-related manners, but in the end, it’s all worth it. Especially when he gets to see their faces light up whenever they get the chance to ramble their hearts out about the antiques.

The way his siblings talk about the stuff that hangs about in the shop would make any other person believe the products have a soul of their own. Marco is no exception. Working in an antique-shop practically his whole life has made Marco feel like the inanimate objects, constantly surrounding him, have a life of their own. They have stories, reasons as to why they ended up in the Whitebeards’ possession.

However, it’s not just those stories that give Marco the idea there is actual life in them. Some days it feels like the stuffed monkey in the back will start swinging from chandelier to chandelier, or use the ropes handing down the ceilings as vines. Other days, he imagines books starting to jump in their bookcases, fall open on their own accord like some magical spell befell them.

He isn’t scared of it, not by a long shot. In a way, it’s comforting to have the idea of life surrounding him even when he’s on his own.

These days, however, it’s not the books coming to life. Instead, it’s the rather creepy-looking werewolf statue behind the counter, one that they’ve gotten from Teach not too long ago. After it terrified a little child, Pops decided to move it out of viewers’ eyes but Izo was firmly against having the figure in the living quarters upstairs. That now means that Marco is always met with angry yellow eyes staring at his legs, whenever it’s his turn behind the counter. A pose, ready to strike, his claws in full motion. The thought that one day it might jump up and cause havoc in the store, is one that Marco has had one too many times.

He’s grown strangely attached to it.

Arriving at the front doors, Marco unlocks the first two locks at the top and bottom of the doors. He proceeds to find the right key and as he finally finds it, the silence in the store gets broken by the creaking of the stairs. They snap Marco out of his deep thoughts with a startle and he turns around to find Pops stepping into the store. He flutters his eyes at the sight of the straw hat in his father’s hands, shortly freezing before turning the key.

He hadn’t really meant to take the straw hat home, hadn’t even meant to find it in the first place. He was on the other side of town, watching Thatch make a fool of himself at the campfire, when he heard the sudden commotion coming from the direction of the town’s square. He wasn’t even close, yet Marco couldn’t resist checking out whatever it was that caused such noise on an otherwise cheerful day such as yesterday.

He didn’t know what to expect, but three boys running like wild geese through the crowd was the last thing he would have thought of. A whole trio, causing havoc in town all on their own. The littlest one, not wearing any shoes, was front and center as he seemed to have the time of his life. Laughing loudly, a big smile on his face. The two older ones behind him, constantly reaching out as if to get the little one to stay close, didn’t fare any better. Giggling like excited little kids, as if all of this was some type of game to them. Knocking over piled up baskets, pushing people out of the way in a hurry to run away, they didn’t seem to have a care in the world.

A mixture of fascination and curiosity was what made Marco silently follow them, their voices becoming clearer as the crowd became smaller. He didn’t really have much of a plan, but he froze in his footsteps when he saw them head straight towards the forbidden woods.

Marco is not particularly scared of the woods despite the many rumors, but in the dead of night, it looked more haunted than it had ever looked. He had been tempted to shout out to them, but they seemed to know where they were going. Marco was not going to be the one to force them to stay at the place they clearly were trying to escape.

Yet a fallen straw hat seemed to lure them back.

The sudden cry for said headwear made the little one hurry back to get it but one of the older two wasted no time in dragging the boy back, apparently not minding the many feet against his shin. Marco, standing at the bottom of the hill, soon found the straw hat tumble against his own two feet. When he had picked it up, he could feel a pair of eyes watching him intensely and looking up, it was just that. He had expected the boy to run up to him to rip the straw hat out of his hands, but no. Instead, he hesitated and turned back to look at the forest. Marco had taken that exact moment to just – take the hat with him.

It was a stupid decision, but if the boy wasn’t going to get it himself, Marco would not let anything be littered around. Especially not around the woods.

“Ah, Marco! Just the man I was looking for.”

Pops’ heavy voice sounds through the comfortable silence, not that Marco minds it all that much. He nods towards his father as he walks up to the man, leaning on the railing as he moves the straw hat upwards to show it to Marco. He passes it around in his hands, “I didn’t mean to snoop around your stuff, but I couldn’t help notice this laying on the kitchen table.”

Marco sighs and crosses his arms, “I found it yesterday, yoi. It belongs to the three kids that nobody could stop talking about last night.” He looks up at Pops when the man begins to chuckle at the mention of the three boys. He hands the straw hat to Marco as he grins, “They were amusing little buggers, those three. Causing such trouble in such a short amount of time, truly talented. I had wondered if they were going to come back, but seeing as to how you stole their hat, I don’t think it’s farfetched to reason they will.”

Marco feels his cheeks beginning to burn, much to his father’s delight. He tightens his hold onto the hat for a brief moment, still ever so careful not to accidentally have it be ripped, “I didn’t steal it, Pops. None of them came back for it, even though the smallest one gave it his best shot.”

He moves his eyes to look back at the older man, watching Marco with fascination gleaming in his own eyes. The man has always had a soft spot for kids, so it’s not surprising he is interested in the three. Marco, therefore, hates to disappoint, but he lays the straw hat on the closest surface as he says, “I’m not so sure if they’ll come back, yoi. They were trying their damn hardest to get out of here and the two oldest were trying with all their might to not have the small one run back.”

Pops hums, eying the straw hat with no less interest than before. If anything, his interests have been piqued more than they were before. He rubs his chin and begins to make his way to the counter, speaking as he goes, “That straw hat has been looking strangely familiar to me ever since I saw it this morning. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, son.”

Marco, having followed Pops with the hat back his hands, grimaces. Of course, the thought has been with him the whole night. It wasn’t till long ago that an annoying redhead sported such a straw hat, always proudly displaying it wherever he went. The only other person allowed to just touch it was his wife and even she was careful in handling the damn hat. Marco has never understood why, but he has never been the type of person to pry into private matters such as that.

Knowing how precious the hat had been to Shanks, it was a surprise to everyone to one day have him return home without it.

Without a whole arm, not to mention.

Shanks didn’t talk about it then, he doesn’t talk about it now. Marco can’t say he isn’t curious though and having a straw hat that looks suspiciously like the one Shanks claimed he simply lost does not help. Let alone the fact that Shanks disappears into the forest whenever he feels like it.

“Should we bring it to him then, yoi? Surely he would have seen the kids and gone after them himself.”

Pops sits down behind the counter, drumming his fingers across the surface. He briefly narrows his eyes at the straw hat and heavens a sigh. “Let’s not do that. We can’t give away hats on wild, educated guesses when we know who were the ones to lose it in the first place. And in the slight chance they might come back, I don’t want to send them on some wild trip across town in search of their belongings. They tried their damn hardest to get out of here, we shouldn’t make it hard on them in case they come back.”

Pops is right, like he usually is. Marco breathlessly chuckles. All it took for the town to have an even more eventful night than the usual affairs on the festival, were three wild boys and a lost straw hat. The same two subjects that now have Marco feel like he should be on his toes for possible intruders.

Life never makes it easy for him. Not that he’s complaining, it would be boring not to have unexpected things be thrown his way.

The little bell above the doors rings loudly, no other sounds to drown it out. An older woman walks in, politely nodding her head towards Pops and Marco at the counter. Pops smiles as he gets up to greet her, sharing one last meaningful glance with Marco before walking away.

Marco watches the interaction for a bit before playing with the straw hat in his hands as he bites his lip.

Those kids sure do fascinate him, even if he’s only had the chance to see them for just a few moments.

* * *

_“Ain’t it a bit too dark to be wearing sunglasses at this hour, kid?”_

Teach’s voice has plagued Ace’s mind the whole night and even now, with the sun peeking through the curtains, it won’t let him go. For the first time in his life, Ace was left awake whilst his brothers were sound asleep. Their excitement had kept the both of them up for longer than usual, huddled together on their mattress as they spoke in hushed tones all night long with Luffy bouncing up and down on his spot. Ace had kept to himself, had let the unsettling smile be branded in the back of his mind. When he was younger, Ace had often bragged about beating a hunter’s ass if they so much as made eye contact.

Yet he had stood frozen to the ground, Teach’s face too close, the grin too daunting.

Ace groans when he reminds himself of his own cowardness, slamming the back of his head against the wall behind him. A loud cry escapes him as he immediately reaches for the sore spot. The sound of snort below makes him stop his aggressive rubbing, his eyes narrowing at the creaking of the ladder. Sabo’s amused face pops up, his blonde hair looking even wilder than usual.

“Are you alright?”

Getting a wordless answer, a simple huff more than enough for Ace, Sabo climbs onto the platform to crawl across the mattress. He settles down next to his twin brother and rests his chin on one of his knees to tilt his head. Just like his brother, Sabo shuffles his feet under the duvet and Ace can’t help but snort at the action. Sabo grin at him as he is apparently happy to finally have made Ace smile a little.

Sabo lightly bumps one of his feet against Ace’s and asks, “What’s wrong? You’ve been hiding up here all morning.”

“I’ve not been hiding,” Ace mumbles, when in fact, he _has_ been hiding. It wasn’t just Teach’s unsettling vibe that has kept him awake all night. There are two other problems, namely Luffy’s straw hat still being in the village and the fact that a blonde human man had picked it up, taking it back to wherever he lives. He had made the rash promise to get the straw hat back, a wild mission that his brothers already assumed they would be going with.

Ace doesn’t want his brothers back in that village. Teach was suspicious of him just by looking at him, Ace doesn’t want to gamble on how easy he might catch on when it comes to Luffy and Sabo. Luring his brothers back in the den of the lion, with humans no longer drunk on the excitement of their festival, is not something that Ace wants on his conscience.

It’s still surprisingly difficult to tell his brothers that he is planning on going alone. Luffy has been more energetic than usual this morning, having woken up with firm determination and wild plans on how to get his hat back. Sabo hasn’t shown as much spirit, but he had been brewing with ideas last night, most of which Ace didn’t catch because he was too caught up in his own head.

Maybe it’s the fact that they usually do everything together or perhaps Ace didn’t have it in him to break his brothers’ spirits. However, he’d much rather have his brothers be pissed at him for neglecting to take them with him on this suicide mission than find them in the hands of a hunter.

“Ace?”

Sabo’s concerned voice brings him back to their room, his hand wrapping around his upper arm to shake him. Ace flutters his eyes and turns to look at his brother, who raises an eyebrow once their glances meet. Ace chews on his lip as he pulls his arm free twiddle his thumbs. He still can’t muster up the damn courage to tell his brother about his plans, so Sabo takes it upon himself to fill the quietness.

The youngest twin begins to chuckle and throws an arm around Ace’s shoulder, catching him off guard. He twirls a strand of Ace’s hair between his fingers and asks, leaning in closer with a reassuring grin on his face, “Are you worried? You are, aren’t you?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Ace decides to mumble, staring at his brother in the corner of his eye. Sabo tightens his arm around his twin’s shoulder and redirects his glance towards the noise coming downstairs as Luffy waltzes back inside. He’s carrying many different rocks and branches in weird shapes, no doubt becoming new members of his big collection. Ace doesn’t understand where he finds the space to store all this junk, watching his brother drop it all on the dinner table.

“We’ll be fine,” Sabo continues, smiling as he shakes his head at Luffy’s antics, “People don’t come up to the forest, so that hat is collecting nothing but dust and sand on that path. It can’t be that challenging, can it?”

Ace gulps at the mention of the hat. He coughs obnoxiously loud and purses his lips as he turns to eye Sabo with a wary expression. Sabo frowns at him in confusion, as if to ask what’s wrong. Ace scratches the back of his neck and decides to cut to the chase, now that he’s finally found the right moment to do so.

“It’s not there anymore.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sabo shifts his body to cross his legs, moving away from the wall to get a better look at Ace. The smile on his face slowly disappears at the sight of Ace’s serious demeanor. He chews on his lip before saying, as he stares at his hands, “I saw someone grab Luffy’s hat and take it to wherever the fuck he came from. I _know_ it’s not there anymore. It’s somewhere deeper into the village, which is exactly why –”

“EEEH?”

Ace nearly jumps out of his own skin at the sudden shout down below. Both Sabo and he snap their heads around in startlement and find Luffy longer standing at the table. Instead, a pair of big, brown eyes obscure Ace’s vision on the door as Luffy wastes no time in climbing on the mattress. He situates himself in front of Ace, looking up at him in a mixture of confusion and disbelief. He grabs his brother’s shoulders and cries out, “What’s that supposed to mean?! Did someone _steal_ my hat? Now I really need to take it back, or else they might destroy it!”

Sabo takes Luffy’s chin between his fingers to force his little brother’s eyes on him. He squeezes them a little, making Luffy squirm as Sabo grins, “Destroy it? As if anyone would ever do that to just a straw hat, little brother. We’ll get it back, no matter where it is. Right, Ace?”

“There is no ‘we’, Sabo. You two will stay here, I’m going alone.”

The smirk is wiped away immediately, two pairs of confused eyes burning through Ace’s skull. Ace tries his hardest not to show a reaction to that, but the narrowing of Sabo’s eyes makes it difficult not to feel his insides heat up. Sabo lets go of Luffy’s face, a huff sounding as he says, looking between Luffy and Ace, “What are you talking about? Luffy and I are coming with, that has been the plan this whole time.”

“Well, plans change!” Ace retorts, feeling instant regret at the brief look of hurt flashing across Luffy’s eyes. Sabo’s left eye twitches, a displeased expression yet at the same time, an underlying emotion that Ace has long learned to decipher as his brother reading between the lines too much for his own good. It is therefore easy to pinpoint when Sabo connects the dots and understands what Ace is really saying.

Sabo reaches out to flick Ace against his forehead, fully ignoring the way Ace yelps in pain. “Knock it off with this attitude. I won’t let you go on some stupid solo mission just because you feel like you’re the only one who needs to take responsibility.”

Ace forces Sabo out of his personal space and scoffs. He curls his hands around the sheets, glancing at both his brothers from behind the loose strands of hair, “This is not up for debate, why don’t you understand that? I’ve changed my mind, I refuse to let you two go back down there. _Especially_ because it’s not lying on the streets but someone’s fucking nightstand. And have you perhaps forgotten about the hunters? The village is no longer out there partying, it’s far too dangerous. Don’t try to argue about this with me.”

“You can’t do that, Ace! It’s _my_ straw hat, I want to get it back myself!” Luffy argues nonetheless, voice too loud for Ace’s liking. He slaps his hand across his brother’s mouth, leaning further to harshly whisper, “Keep your voice down, Lu! Mom and dad can’t know about this! It’ll only make them more anxious.”

“And you disappearing on your own will ease their worries? What are you thinking, Ace! We can simply tell them we lost track of time again, it worked just fine yesterday.” Sabo reasons, but Ace doesn’t listen. He turns his head towards his twin, eyes desperate for him to just understand, “The most important reason why I’m going alone has already been explained. I’m your older brother and it’s my job to protect you. And if that means going down there on my own, so be it.”

Knowing full well that this argument is not over, Ace pushes his brothers out of the way to slide down the ladder, getting out of the suffocating atmosphere he created for himself. He storms out of the house with his brothers’ shouts not far behind, but he tries his hardest to not let it get to him. He won’t let their whining get to his head and make him change his mind.

Ace shuts his eyes for just a short moment before fully changing into a wolf to run into the forest, just to clear his head. His mother’s loud warnings about not ripping his clothes echo between the trees just a moment too late.

It proves to be difficult to avoid getting into silent arguments with his brothers the rest of the day, much to the clear confusion of their parents. It is why as night falls, Ace finds himself helping his mother scrub dirt off their shirts, sitting near a tub silently as his mother chats away about whatever stunt Dadan pulled today. It’s a comforting rumble after he spent the whole day picking fights with his brothers.

Sabo and Luffy are sitting on the edge of the porch, watching him like a hawk. Truth to be told, Ace hasn’t really thought out just how he was going to get away, but having two idiots glare at him all night makes it a whole lot harder.

“Darling, are you alright? I don’t know what happened between you three, but please talk to them. I don’t like seeing you like this.”

Ace looks away from his brothers to stare at the concerned eyes of his mother, who has not stopped scrubbing but is staring at Ace like a kicked puppy. She nods her head towards the other two and continues, now looking back at the laundry, “It pains me to see you look so conflicted. Is this perhaps about that straw hat?”

“I guess you can say that,” Ace mumbles. His mother hums and he suddenly feels a hand run through his hair as she speaks again, “You worry too much, little one. Trying to solve everything on your own isn’t healthy, you need to rely on your brothers more often. I know you find that difficult, but it might make things easier for you, don’t you think? You’re still my little child, after all.”

Ace scoffs lightly, swatting his mother’s hand away, “I’m not a child, mom.”

“Sure you are, love! I can still see you running wild here, with your makeshift swords.” His mother giggles as she sits back down. Ace rolls his eyes, albeit fondly. The heavy rumbling of his father’s voice turns his head away from his smiling mother, a frown forming at the sight of the old man hauling his two brothers on their feet.

“Up you go, lads! Instead of moping around, why not join me on my fishing trip?” Roger laughs loudly at Sabo’s gaping and pushes the two forward, having already made up his own mind. Luffy stumbles and turns around on his heels to exclaim, “Not fair! Why can Ace stay here when he’s also looking like a wet dog?”

That little fucker.

Ace glares at the dirty grin forming on Sabo’s face. A light switches on, however, when his eyes fall on the brush in his hands. He immediately looks up at his father, who seems to contemplate taking him along as well. He waves the brush around and says, a grin on his face directed at his brothers, “I’m helping mom with the laundry. Sorry, boys.”

Roger flutters his eyes before a surprised smile appears, putting his hands on the other two’s shoulders, “That’s my boy. Keep that up, Acey!”

Ugh, he has always hated that stupid nickname. His mother giggles again and as Ace watches brothers disappear out of sight, he feels like luck has finally struck him.

It doesn’t long for him to finish his pile of clothes, rapidly going through them now that his brothers are finally gone. His mother watches him go with a flabbergasted expression on her face and she jumps a little out of her seat when Ace gets up, soap flying off the brush.

“Mom, I want to look for Luffy’s straw hat again. Wouldn’t it be a nice surprise for him if he were to come back to find it back home?”

It is a perfect getaway and his mother takes it. She stares at his brush as if she still needs to catch up to how fast Ace finished it but finally smiles. She gets up to pinch his cheek like he is still a little child, “Of course you can. But I’m begging of you, don’t stay away as long as you did yesterday. I don’t want to have to worry again.”

Ace smiles back and can’t stop himself from planting a little kiss on her cheek, much to her obvious delight.

“I won’t. I promise. I’ll be back before you know it.”

He looks at his mother one last time before changing his hands and feet back into paws as he disappears between the trees.

* * *

The town looks different with just the lampposts lighting the streets. Ace tries his hardest to stay hidden in the shadows, keeping close to the walls and jumping into alleyways at the quietest of sounds. The leather of his boots creaks with every step, sounding louder in the quietness of a sleeping town. He has yet to run into a hunter, has yet to even spot one from afar, but Ace won’t take any chances. His cowboy hat really isn’t enough to hide the gold in his eyes.

Ace is, both literally and figurately, grasping in the dark whilst looking for the blonde man. Prior to him sneaking up on the hill, the blonde had completely escaped Ace’s radar at the festival. Granted, he was looking for his brothers in tunnel vision, but with peculiar hair like that, he shouldn’t have been hard to miss. Ace realizes that probably wouldn’t have made a difference. He would still be none the wiser as to where he even lives.

He groans as he bumps into the familiar wall again, hands holding him steady just in time. Ace takes a deep breath to calm his rapidly beating heart and looks at the sea in front of him, the moon reflecting beautifully on the still waters. A frustrated noise leaves his lips as he can’t help but lean for just a moment on the red stones, eyes looking at the rest of the village down below. It is only mild curiosity, Ace reasons. The place looks like a new world without packs of humans running around, the streets empty and, dare he say, lifeless. With the moon sharing her light across the village, it almost looks beautiful.

Ace drops his head. His little brother’s wild stories sure have planted themselves in his mind.

His eyes widen at the sudden sight of blonde hair, not too far down as the person stops in front of a building near the port. Ace moves his head up, fingers gripping the stones in a newfound determination. He quickly registers the massive sign, oddly shaped like a whale, in the back of his mind before dashing for the stairs near the wall. He stumbles into the streets and as fast as he can, whilst staying in the shadows, Ace searches for the whale.

It is surprisingly nearby, yet as Ace turns his head to try and get a better grasp about where he is, he notices just how far away the forest suddenly is. He curses under his breath. He really needs to hurry this up.

He presses himself against the wall of the building opposite the whale and watches the blonde’s every move. The man appears to lock the door before turning around a corner as he sticks his hands into the pockets of his coat. He is whistling some annoying tune, a tune that goes softer with every step.

Once Ace hears nothing, he looks around one last time and races across the street. He bolts towards the front of the building, hand reaching for the doorknob. Pulling it confirms it’s locked and Ace groans. He looks up, eyes finding the fat whale swaying in the soft wind. His eyes travel down again, towards the big window on his right. With slow steps, Ace walks in front of the glass and glances inside, a confused look on his face at the sight of dolls in the window still. There are bottles in weird shapes as well, through which Ace can see his own reflection.

He looks up at the big letters, plastered all over the window: _The Moby Dick_. Ace narrows his eyes at the name. He swears he’s heard that name before. Or at least read it somewhere. That must have been Sabo’s doing.

Ace chews his lip as he pulls his attention away from the window still, looking into the direction the blonde man just disappeared into. His first instinct is to simply break down the door, but he isn’t that stupid. It’ll draw too much attention and no matter how strong he is, he is in no position to escape when he wakes up the whole village. He clenches his fist and takes his first step when the sudden whisper of his name makes him freeze on the spot. His eyes widen and he slowly turns around, his heart pounding against his chest as he tries to locate where that voice came from.

A flash of red moves in the corner of his eye, across the street. A pair of black boots shuffle around the corner, flip-flops dangling just above them. Sabo’s wavy, blonde hair moves out of the shadow and Ace’s eye begins to twitch. Luffy is on Sabo’s back, arms wrapped around his shoulders as he grins bashfully at his brother. However, seeing the stormy expression on Ace’s face quickly wipes the grin away.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Ace hisses at them once they’ve finally crossed the street. Sabo lets Luffy get off his back and looks around him before leaning in closer to whisper just as harshly, “Did you honestly think we’d let you do this on your own just because you told us to? Like hell! I would never let you roam around in this village alone.”

Ace grabs his brother’s collar to pull him even closer, “I was trying to keep you away! I did that for your own safety, you dumbasses! Why don’t you ever listen to me?”

Sabo’s eyes dart all over Ace’s face, a challenging look on his face. Ace feels himself getting desperate and when Luffy grabs his arm, he might look just as frustrated as he feels. His little brother is looking at him with an expression that Ace can’t read, a grin slowly finding its way back onto his face. A mischievous glimmer shines in his eye as he says, voice as quiet as Luffy ever could get it to be, “You’re such a blockhead, Ace. You’re not the only one who wants to protect, you know. I want to keep Ace safe as well! So stop getting angry and let’s find my hat!”

Sabo has the nerve to chuckle and he looks at his brother with the same glimmer in his eye, “There you have it. Like hell we’re letting you do this on your own, idiot. Besides, I’d rather have us three be captured together than you alone.”

“ _I_ would rather have it the other way around,” Ace snaps, this time without the harsh edge. He should have known that his brothers would be too stubborn to listen. He lets out a sigh and runs a hand across his face, looking at his brothers through his fingers as he whispers, “Stay close to me and don’t touch anything, you understand? I promised to be back before sunrise and I’d like to keep that promise.”

Both his brothers nod seriously and keep close to him as Ace carefully steps around the corner. He holds out his arm to stop them, making sure there is no one there before walking on. They stop in front of a big gate. Luffy pushes himself on his tippy toes to look over Ace’s shoulder and gawks at it, “That’s massive!”

“Massive and thankfully, not yet locked. Let’s go,” Ace says, seeing one of the gates still open. It’s also a clear sign that the blonde is still there, most likely, so he quickly adds, “Be careful. The one that stole Luffy’s hat is probably still around, so keep in the dark.”

“You don’t need to tell me that,” Sabo whispers as he pushes Ace forward to go through the gates. The oldest stumbles inside and stumbles to a half at the sound of another gasp from Luffy, who does _not_ stay in the dark as he runs into the courtyard in which they find themselves. Sabo rushes forward to pull the younger one back, but just like Ace, he stares up with wide eyes at the sight of a big warehouse behind them. Big boxes are surrounding the building, a few wheelbarrows lined up not far from the entrance of the warehouse.

Ace carefully steps forward, Luffy clinging to the back of his shirt like a koala. On the back of the store is a staircase, leading the way up to a little balcony and a door. Ace warily eyes the windows, curtains closed, and no lights behind them. Sabo suddenly pats him on the shoulder as he points to Ace’s right, “There is a door over there, let’s go check it out.”

“Are you sure my hat is even in here?” Luffy belatedly realizes with a pout, still following Sabo as he takes the lead towards the door. Ace hurries after them and as he watches with a relieved grin how Sabo pushes the door open with ease, he puts his hand on Luffy’s hair, “I’m not, but this is the closest we’ll probably get. Just – trust me, alright? I promised I’d get it back, after all.”

Luffy’s face splits into a massive smile, following after Sabo with his flip-flops echoing through the quiet store. Sabo is still at the front, with Ace not far behind as he squeezes his way through the many boxes stacked around them. Luffy is bursting with energy, holding on to Ace’s arm as he looks around him. Sabo suddenly stops and Ace bumps into his back, making Luffy let out a loud chuckle. Ace turns around with the speed of lightning to cover his little brother’s mouth and he harshly whispers, eyes widened in concern, “The hell, Bo? What are you stopping for, what’s wrong?”

Sabo doesn’t say anything, so Ace looks past his twin to see what is so shocking for him to have stopped walking.

He stutters a quiet curse at the sight before him.

Like in a trance, Ace joins Sabo’s side as Luffy jumps forward with stars in his eyes. Ace can grab him just in time to pull him against his chest, but a quick look around the store shows they are on their own thus far. Stuck together, they slowly walk forward into the main area of the store, Luffy’s excitement growing with every step.

The ceiling is high, thick beams holding it all together. Toys and lights dangle down from the beams on ropes, lightly swaying around. The sound of chimes fills the otherwise quiet space, accompanying the boys as they look around in wonder. Ace is on guard, eyes fixated on the two stairs that lead up to a floor above, but it’s difficult to not be slightly in awe by the way the place is filled with stuff that Ace has never seen before. Luffy’s hands tighten painfully around Ace’s arm, unable to execute his over-excited energy in another way. His little brother’s eyes are shining, apparently having forgotten why they are here.

Instead of letting his brother gets swayed too much, he flicks Luffy behind the head and says, voice directed towards Sabo as well, “We are looking for a straw hat, not pretty chimes. Come on, hurry up. I want to leave.”

“Pretty chimes, huh?”

Ace glares at Sabo’s shit-eating grin but chooses not to dignify it with an answer. He nudges his head forward to make them keep walking, not in the mood to waste any more time. Ace heads straight for the counter, standing out in the moonlight shining through the massive window. He quickly checks to find his brothers follow suit before walking around the counter to check behind it.

His eye catches the red ribbon before the straw hat, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. Ace’s breath hitches and a grin threatens to rip his face apart as he briefly looks at the moon as if to thank her for her service. Sabo seems to sense the sudden mood change. He jogs up to him, eyes asking him what’s up. Ace smirks at him before bending down to grab the straw hat. Sabo’s eyes widen in shock, a relieved smile overtaking his face as well.

A squeal from Luffy is the only warning Ace gets before the straw hat gets ripped out of his hands. The youngest inspects the hat, turning it around until he is sure no harm has been done. Ace swears Luffy is about to cry, putting the hat back onto his messy black hair. He makes his way over to squeeze his little brother’s cheeks, but the sound of footsteps nearing from outside has him change his plans immediately.

Grabbing both his brothers, Ace drags them behind the counter and they crawl until they can’t go any further. Luffy tightly holds on to his hat, not willing to ever let go of it again. Ace carefully peeks over the counter, making sure it’s just his eyes that stick out. He sees nothing yet, but the footsteps get louder with every passing second.

He falls back down, putting his finger against his lips to signal to his brothers to keep quiet. He gulps, eyes narrowing as he mentally prepares himself to attack just in case he needs to. Ace’s eyes wander down to the shelves beneath the counter and it is only then that he finds himself being watched by a pair of furious, yellow eyes. Ace’s breath hitches, startling Sabo. The blonde grabs his shirt as if to steady himself, but Ace’s focus is one the hideous figure of a werewolf right in front of him.

With a feeling of disgust, Ace can’t stop his hand from transforming into a claw. He hears a wheeze escape Sabo, but there isn’t an ounce of regret as he flicks the damn figure off the shelf with as little noise as possible. He smirks as it falls, Sabo looking over his shoulder with an annoyed expression on his face.

The footsteps growing louder make him quickly morph his hand back and he bends further down, signing to his brothers to do the same. A shiver goes down his spine at the sound of shoes hitting the hard tiles of the store, thankfully not heading towards the counter. Who Ace guesses is still the blonde man, walks up the stairs, and soon, a door gets thrown shut above them.

It’s painfully quiet, Ace not daring to breathe when he peeks over the counter again. There isn’t a soul to be found and after making sure there really isn’t anyone, he lets out a sigh and gets up. Luffy jumps back on his feet, a curious look on his face as his eyes wander off again. Sabo’s expression, however, doesn’t settle well with Ace. He frowns at his brother and can’t reach out on time when his twin suddenly rushes towards the backdoor, feet as light as a feather.

“Sabo!” Ace hisses, dragging Luffy with him to follow the other. Sabo is pulling the doorknob, which is not budging. Ace feels his heart in his throat.

“We’re stuck!” Sabo harshly whispers, throwing a frustrated glance over his shoulder. Ace’s face darkens and he walks up to the door to try the same thing as Sabo, pulling harder and harder until his brother tugs him away.

“You’re going to break the door, someone might hear us!”

“Desperate times mean desperate measures,” Ace retorts, but his own previous thoughts catch up with him in just a matter of seconds. Sabo is right, he can’t do this. Damn it, why must everything they do always end up getting out of hand?

Luffy pushes himself between his brothers to look through the keyhole and says, squinting one eye, “Can’t we just stick a needle in it? I once overheard Dadan brag about how she unlocked a door like that.”

Ace rolls his eyes, “That was a bobby pin, something that we don’t have right now.”

“Lu does have a point though. Maybe we can find something else instead of a bobby pin,” Sabo reasons, already making his way back inside the store. Ace groans and rushes after him as he calls out, “This is not the knitting department, there is no way we’re going to find something.”

“Not if we won’t try.”

“Wha – do you even know how to pick a lock?” Ace asks in a hushed tone. The dirty grin he gets as a response does not settle well with him. He turns around to find Luffy’s hands wandering all over the shelves on the walls, a lot less careful than Sabo.

Ace should not be as surprised as he is when Luffy suddenly drops a Christmas ornament, shattering bits of glass all over the tiles. The young wolf watches it fall with wide eyes, snapping them up towards his shocked older brothers with a guilty grin on his face.

“Aah, I’m sorry!”

Ace groans and rushes forward to get to his brother as he rambles, “It’s okay, it’s okay.” He pulls Luffy against his chest, pressing his lips tightly together to listen if anyone walks down the stairs.

A stressful few seconds pass by, but just when Ace thinks the coast is clear, the door upstairs opens. His breath hitches, eyes locking with the wide-eyed Sabo, his face going pale. A pair of voices overlapping resonance from the stairs, sounding dangerously close from the brothers’ current position.

_“What was that?”_

_“I don’t know, yoi. Just when I thought I could go to sleep, damn it.”_

_“You really are such an old man, Marco. Unbelievable. I’ll come with.”_

The stairs begin the creak, the sound of light bickering louder with every step. Ace has to think quickly, scanning the area until his eye falls on a bookcase not too far from them.

“Let’s go,” Ace whispers and all but yanks his brothers towards the wooden bookcase, a tiny space behind it offering the perfect hiding spot. Ace situates himself in front of his brothers, body tense as he spreads his arms until both hands hit a surface. Trapping the two behind him, Ace narrows his eyes at the cardboard boxes obscuring his view. He can’t see the two men whose voices are currently sounding in the store, but he can perfectly hear their footsteps, going in different directions as they search to find the source behind the noise.

Ace gulps when he sees the light of a flashlight up ahead, moving around in the same manner as a navy officer would. Luffy is trying to get a better view, pushing himself up against Ace’s back, but he won’t let him. He keeps his arms spread and doesn’t say a word, eyes focused on the flashlight’s every move.

_“You reckon we have mice?”_

The voice sounds close, too close. Ace can’t hear the answer, but when he is suddenly blinded by a bright light, the answer to the question is turned irrelevant.

Sabo makes a startled noise as Luffy gawks at the man in front of them, long, brown hair hanging loosely on his shoulders. His mouth falls open at the sight of the three boys, eyes as big as saucers as he squeaks a pathetic, “Three _big_ m-mice, Marco!”

Ace snarls, successfully making the man drop his flashlight. He jumps up to shove him out of the way and the man loses his footing, stumbling into the cardboard boxes. A startled yell leaves his lips as the boxes scatter all around him. They bounce on the tiles, noises loud enough to wake half the damn store. It is at least enough for the all too familiar blonde to come running, another flashlight hurting Ace’s eyes. He squeezes them shut as he feels a hand grabbing his shirt to take him along, everything around him happening just a bit too fast.

The blonde’s reflexes, however, are able to keep up just as fast. Ace’s vision returns on time to kick the man out of the way, a growl sounding as his foot connects with the other’s shin. It gives Sabo enough time to run by him, jumping like an agile cat, but Luffy is not so lucky. The moment he is in front of the man, a hand reaches out to grab the cords of his straw hat.

Luffy gets pulled back, a choked noise sounding and alarming his brothers immediately. The noise, surprisingly, also makes the blonde human loosen his grip on the cords. However, it’s a fraction too late for the young wolf. Ace can sense it before it actually happens, but he doesn’t get to Luffy on time.

His heart stops beating when Luffy’s hand transforms into a paw, lashing out to hit the human in the face.

The blonde man looks stunned, staggering on his feet as he barely manages to miss Luffy’s sharp claws. A choked gasp sounds from the pile of boxes and Brown Hair stares at Luffy in shock, his mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air.

Luffy’s claw morphs back as silence befalls the store, the two humans nailed to the ground while Ace and Sabo both feel their hearts in their throats. Ace grabs his little brother, bright golden eyes meeting the blonde human as he warns him to stay back. Something flashes across the human’s face and he registers the color of Ace’s eyes, a calculated glance directed at the three brothers.

“Werewolves…”

An awed whisper sounds from the boxes, Brown Hair having stood up to stare at Luffy in – not disgust. That’s wonder glimmering in his eyes, Ace notes warily. He steps in front of his brothers as he growls, exposing his sharp teeth now that the humans are perfectly aware of what they are, “Stay back, we don’t mean any harm.”

The blonde man’s lazy eyes narrow at the trio as he snaps out of his trance. He coughs and glances at Brown Hair with a raised eyebrow. Brown Hair is still staring, an awestruck expression on his face.

“Werewolves, Marco. There are actual werewolves in _The Moby Dick_!”

“I’m not blind, yoi.”

Marco sets a step closer to the trio but stops dead in his tracks as Ace viciously growls at him whilst pushing his brothers backwards. They stumble against another bookcase, now stuck in that position. Brown Hair flutters his eyes, understanding dawning on his face. He clumsily makes his way out of the pile of boxes, raising his hands as he exclaims, “Don’t be afraid! Please, don’t be afraid. We won’t – we won’t report you, I swear. Right, Marco?”

Marco narrows his eyes at them, Ace challenging him back with a glare. The blonde meets eyes with Brown Hair, a silent conversation between the two, before he starts biting his lip. He doesn’t look scared in the slightest, which is unnerving for Ace. _Neither_ looks scared. Shocked, Ace might even go as far as to think Brown Hair is starstruck, but not afraid.

_Why are they not afraid?_

“Don’t call the hunters on us! Ace once told me they’d skin us alive and I really don’t want that!” Luffy pipes up from behind, eyes just barely reaching his older brother’s shoulders. Ace groans, biting his tongue as to not snap at Luffy during a time like this. Marco has the nerve to chuckle, but against all odds, he slowly shakes his head and says, glancing at Brown Hair for a second, “We aren’t that cruel, yoi. You don’t need to worry about something like that. But do tell me,” he leans in closer, “Why are three werewolves trespassing our property?”

“The only reason we came here, is to collect what is rightfully ours. If you hadn’t stolen our little brother’s straw hat, we would have never come here. Please let us go without any fuss and we will promise to never come back.” Sabo levels his darkened eyes with Marco’s, who merely raises an eyebrow.

Brown Hair tilts his head in confusion before he gets what they mean. He elbows Marco against his chest, “See? I told you. You stole that hat from these poor kiddos.”

Marco glares at him like they’ve had this conversation one too many times. They begin to mutter among themselves, the sight eerily familiar to Ace. Seeing them a bit too caught up in their own world, Ace decides that this is the perfect chance. He grabs his brothers’ wrists, silently telling them they are going to leave. However, an uncomfortable feeling settles in his stomach as Ace’s nose catches a rotten smell.

The sound of a voice calling out from outside confirms the bad feeling and Ace freezes.

“Fuck.”

Sabo whips his head around, “What’s the matter?”

Ace’s fingers tighten around his brothers’ wrists, staring at the massive window as his heart starts to pound louder against his chest. He gulps and hisses, “Hunter.”

“Ha?!” Luffy squeaks, glancing across Ace’s shoulder like a deer caught in bright light. Ace is at a loss of what to do. Teach is standing right outside, calling out to Marco and his team to be let in. He takes his lip between his teeth, eyes roaming all over the window as he frantically tries to come up with an idea.

A hand wrapping itself around the collar of his shirt pulls him back to reality and he is suddenly dragged backwards. Not letting go of his brothers, both Luffy and Sabo stumble along as Ace is too caught off guard to even think about struggling. Marco is fast and doesn’t stop walking until they reach another door, which he pulls open with his free hand with such force that he might have ripped the door off its handles any other time. Without so much as sparing them another glance, Marco pushes the three inside the storage room and throws the door shut, a loud bang echoing through the now darkened room.

Ace tries to catch his breath as he checks up on his brothers, relieved to find no scratches on them. He snaps his eyes at the door, trying to understand what just happened. Sabo rushes forward to look through the keyhole, kicking Ace away when he tries to get him to come back. He narrows one eye and whispers, “Is that the guy who you ran away from the last time?”

“His name is Teach,” Ace replies, on high alert, “According to Shanks, he is the leader of the gang. He is dangerous, Bo. I swear he knew what I was by just looking at me. And I was wearing sunglasses, which makes it all the more unsettling. He is the whole reason why I didn’t want you guys back in the first place.”

“I’m sorry, Ace,” Luffy pouts and hugs his brother from behind, squeezing until he can’t go any further. Ace sighs, dropping his arms to grab his little brother’s hands. It makes Luffy giggle, which in turn warms Ace’s heart despite the nauseating situation. Sabo turns around, having sat down on his knees, and says, a softened expression on his face, “I for one am glad we came. Wouldn’t have wanted you locked up in a storage room on your own.”

Ace presses his lips into a smile, shuffling forward to aggressively ruffle Sabo’s hair. Sabo pushes him away whilst Luffy whispers, “Ace is a softy.”

“Shut up, Lu.”

Huddled against the door proves to have been a bad idea. When the door swings open again, the three tumble backwards, Luffy rolling against the stack of brooms behind them. Ace gasps and hoists his brother back on his feet. He scans all over him again before glaring at Marco, who stands in the doorway with one hand on the door.

“Sorry about that, yoi. Wouldn’t have wanted Teach to find you here.”

“Why did you protect us?” Sabo asks, carefully walking out of the closest with his two brothers closely behind him. Marco watches the three for a bit, who are already aiming to head for the backdoor. He signs with his hand towards the front of the store, “Wait for just a few minutes. Teach might still spot you if you go now.”

Ace’s eye begins to twitch, “What’s in it for you to not hand us over to a hunter?”

Marco’s lazy eyes find him, “Nothing, yoi. But we weren’t raised to enforce violence on others. That includes you three.”

“That’s right!” Brown Hair pipes up with a grin, smart enough not to set another step closer, “As I said, you don’t need to be afraid. Your secret is safe with us.”

“It better fucking be!” Ace growls, getting more annoyed as Brown Hair only chuckles at that. There aren’t any other words shared, not even from Luffy, in the next few minutes. Marco eventually walks up to the backdoor to unlock it and says, “Teach is gone, you can go. Don’t get caught on your way out.”

“I don’t need your advice, damn it.” Ace won’t let his brothers linger around for another second. They set a few steps backwards before fully turning around to sprint back outside. Sabo’s speed falters for just a second as he stops in front of Marco, calculating eyes as he mumbles, “Thank you for not ratting out my brothers and me, I suppose.”

Marco looks surprised if anything. Ace grabs Sabo’s arm to get a move on and only throws one last look over his shoulder to stare at Marco with narrowed eyes before taking the lead to find the quickest way home in the pleasant darkness of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not great with writing action scenes, so I'm praying it came out alright:') I hope this chapter was worth the wait! The next chapter will come at the 14th of December:)
> 
> Tumblr: yu-na-yu & fernandesart  
> Pinterest (I made a board for this story if anyone is interested): Remi103 -> ASL Brothers - Wolf Children


	5. A Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again:) This week I've decided to come with a much shorter chapter because I couldn't find the time to come up with roughly the same amount of words that I usually write:( That's why it'll probably feel more like a bit of a filler, but I tried! I didn't want to slack off on my own deadlines, so here is still chapter five:)

Ace has never thought there would ever come a day where his mother would have to physically kick his brothers and him out of the house, but then again, he has also never thought he would get locked in a toy store far removed from the comfort of the forest. For the past week, neither Ace nor his brothers had ventured further than the nearby river. Coming back after an encounter like that, one that could have easily done more harm than good, makes one appreciate the comfort of home and Ace is not above admitting that he has been too shaken to get anywhere near the border.

His brothers, however, are not in the same boat. It does Ace good that the two also didn’t bother straying too far from the shack, but these past few days it has felt like all of Ace’s warnings about the dangers of being close to humans have been for naught. Ace has never had any doubts about his own abilities in keeping his brothers far away from that human village, never had any doubts about his _parents’_ abilities, yet here he is. Sat alone on the porch, pulling a weed out of the grass because of yet another pointless argument with Luffy and Sabo.

Ace does not understand how Marco and his friend managed to impress his brothers. For a whole week, he’s had to sit through all of their blabbering about _The Moby Dick_ and whatever else is going on in the village. No matter how much they tried to keep it down, for as far as Luffy was able to do so, Ace overheard everything. Not to mention that he’s seen Luffy climb into the nearest tree as if that would have granted him an excellent view of the village.

It has caused several arguments among the three of them, hushed whispers, and very pissed-off glares from Ace across the dining table. There was absolutely nothing fun about the experience. They were locked inside, only to be let out by a stroke of luck. Sabo can say all he wants, Ace will never believe Marco hasn’t gained something by just letting them go. He is clueless about whatever relationship the blonde has with Teach, but considering the hunter acted so disgustingly friendly with them promises Ace no good.

Not for the first time, Ace feels out of control.

Their little arguments had eventually caused their mother to go mad, which means Ace is now outside again. He is still angry at his brothers, who are both now somewhere in the forest, probably shit-talking him whilst he is frustratedly pulling innocent dandelions out of the sand.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to protect your little brothers from people who have ulterior motives, he has kept telling himself all morning. But Ace’s anger gets the best of him in the worst moments and he has perhaps said some things to his brothers that he is already starting to regret. Just the thought of them makes Ace tightly wrap his arms around his knees as he hides his burning face into the fabric of his shorts.

A shaky sigh leaves his lips as his sharp claws dig into his upper legs. It isn’t fair. Why can’t those two just understand his worries and why can’t he voice them like a normal person? It always ends like this because he doesn’t know how to gently tell his little brothers just how scared he is of ever losing them to human traders, to one day find them in states that will haunt him for decades. He’s heard the neighbors on Baterilla talk about animal control every time either Sabo or he lost control over their transformations and at such a young age, it has left an ugly stain on the way Ace views other human beings.

He can maybe understand why Luffy would act so rebellious, but Sabo of all people should understand where he’s coming from.

It freaks him out. More than he’ll ever admit to himself.

“Hey, kiddo. Aren’t you supposed to be out, playing with your brothers?”

Ace startles and snaps his head up, turning out to find his dad standing in the door frame. His arms are crossed as he leans against the wooden pole, a surprisingly gentle smile on his face joined by a raised eyebrow. Getting nothing but a scoff as a response, Roger walks over to his oldest to join him. Ace rests his chin on his knees as his dad sits down, knees cracking as he goes painstakingly slow.

“Could you be any more of a grandpa?” Ace asks, not bothering to look at his dad. He receives just a light swat behind the head as Roger all but whines, “I’m not that old, brat. My joins still work perfectly fine, mind you.” As if to prove just how fine, he dramatically stretches his legs, but the crack Ace hears does nothing to prove that point. Roger just begins to laugh and crosses his arms again, “Given your grumpy mood, I suspect you boys are still fighting. I had hoped all of the tension between you three would have been gone after you came back with my straw hat, but you’ve been in a slump all week. What’s wrong?”

Ace’s face hardens as he hunches his shoulders, making his dad even more concerned as an uncharacteristic frown appears on his face. Ace isn’t used to talking about _feelings_ with his father, if he were to ever talk about them at all. In a period after moving to the shack, his father had taken a lot of liberties by constantly going away for certain periods of time. He never told his kids where to or why, he just came back and acted like nothing had happened. It made his brothers sad, but they accepted it and never got angry.

Ace, on the other hand, was always furious at their father. His father had admittedly given up a lot in order to take care of his young family since it is no secret that his dad used to be in shady business before meeting their mother. However, it did not give him the excuse to just do whatever he felt like doing and Ace was not as forgiving as the rest of his family. For a long time, Ace was bitter towards the man. As he grew older and got somewhat of an explanation from their mother (for as far as she was able to), he became more lenient and while he hasn’t fully forgiven him for constantly disappearing, the man has kept the promise he once made Ace on the twins’ tenth birthday.

It’s been seven years since then and his dad has never left home again. At least, not without consoling his family first.

Roger still has the habit of pretending things are fine when they are not, which means that he keeps his feelings bottled inside just as much as Ace does. It is just – _unusual_ for his dad to directly ask about his feelings. That is his mother’s job, damn it.

Ace pushes his cowboy hat to his back and runs his fingers through his hair, avoiding eye contact as he quietly says, “I – promise me you’re going to give me an honest answer.”

Dad frowns again, “Of course I will! What makes you think I’m going to lie to you?”

Ace glares at his father, the hypocrisy clear as day. Understanding washes across Roger’s face and he awkwardly scratches his beard, “I’ve made a promise to you to never do that again. I fully intend to never break that. So please feel free to ask away, son. I will answer as honest as I can.”

He hides his face, voice muffled as he musters up the courage to ask, “How did you come to learn to trust mom?”

Looking at his dad in the corner of his eye, he finds the man tilt his head like a confused dog before asking, voice bewildered but thankfully not judgmental, “Where is this coming from all of a sudden?”

Ace moves his face up and watches a snail slowly move past his feet, “You’ve always warned us about the prejudice of humans, against anything that looks remotely different. Yet you gave up your life for our mother. Just how did you know she was not going to be just like everybody else?”

Roger flutters his eyes and rubs his chin with his index finger and thumb, pursing his lips as he looks ahead of them. He proceeds to lean back on his hands and a wistful grin finds its way onto his face, “It wasn’t so black and white, I’m afraid. I couldn’t stand your mother the first time we met and quite frankly, she also thought I was the biggest prick she’d ever had the pleasure of speaking to.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“When we met, I was trying to hide from the Navy. As you do. I accidentally ended up crashing a party and I thought the perfect way to blend in was to dance with the most beautiful woman present. To create the illusion that I belonged there too.”

“So that’s how you met mom?” Ace asks, a grimace on his face when his dad begins to laugh. The older man puts his hand on his stomach and replies, loud enough for his wife to hear, “Of course not. The most beautiful woman got asked for a dance right before my eyes so I ended up dancing with your lovely mother instead.”

Ace groans, “Damn it, dad. Even Dadan is more romantic than you and that’s saying something.”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that and carry on with my story,” his old man snaps, a huff in his tone like a child. “Anyway, she wasn’t too happy with dancing with me either but she went along with it. I managed to escape in the end, but I still had to lay low in the forest. However, not low enough as your mother started digging and winded up finding me. I had somehow intrigued her enough to want to know more.”

Roger chuckles lowly, “I didn’t want anything to do with her, but she was persistent. In the end, I fell in love with your mother. I kept telling myself that it wouldn’t work out, that she wouldn’t love me the way I loved her if she found out what I truly was. But she wasn’t scared. Not even a little bit. If anything, she was more excited.”

Ace is not sure how to reply to that. It didn’t take falling in love for Marco’s friend to act like an excited puppy after seeing his brothers and him. Neither Marco nor he showed any signs of being scared, but that doesn’t prove anything to him. Hunters aren’t frightened of them either, after all. Sure, Marco was kinda nice to them, but for all Ace knows, that had been a façade. How can he just start to trust a human on the premise of being ‘nice’, when in the past, that hadn’t stopped them from still going after werewolves?

His dad begins to smile, unaware of Ace’s internal turmoil. “Soon after we finally got past our differences, I was blessed with two of the most adorable little boys and the rest is history. I decided my pack could go on without me and that taking care of my own little family was far more important.”

“But how can you just –” Ace fully turns to stare at his dad in disbelief, eyes widened as he continues, “You’ve always told me to be careful around full human beings and now you’re telling me that love is the cure? Like some cheesy fairy tale?” He resists the urge to throw his arms in the air like some frustrated child, but it’s hard to contain himself.

Roger looks flabbergasted, if anything, and shakes his head. He reaches out to wipe some sand off Ace’s cheek, “Of course that’s not what I’m saying. Love was part of it, but the ability to trust and give back is far more important. It didn’t take a few days for me to realize this, it took almost two years of going back and forth with your mother. And during that time, I went through a lot of different stages before accepting that perhaps not all humans are so bad.”

He heavens a sigh, “I’ve had very bad experiences with humans, which is why I had such strong feelings towards them. Hunters, prejudice, propaganda in my line of business to warn people about me. It wasn’t great. In all my life, I’ve only had one human friend outside your mother and Dadan’s little gang, and even he was more of a rival than a friend.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m telling you that you’ll get a lot further by not giving in to the prejudices and allow yourself to give certain humans a chance. Naturally, I’m not telling you to just run off into the village and throw yourself at everyone, but instead of closing yourself off, just – well, just be nice. If they turn on you in the end, you’ll always know it’s not on you. That is all I want you to understand.”

“Then why have we been hiding for all these years?”

“Like I said, putting trust in a handful of human beings is safe, but trying to live like one of them is always a challenge. Humans are pack animals, let me tell you that. Someone’s opinion can quickly be taken as truth and turn a whole village against you. What I’m telling you, is that you should take it slow and easy. Not to mention that I don’t just have myself to think about now, nor am I surrounded by a group of experienced werewolves. I have three boys and a wife to take care of, three boys who are not yet adults no matter how much they think they are.”

Ace rolls his eyes at the grin on his father’s face.

“I have no choice but to be more careful and protective. I’d much rather be safe than sorry.”

This is exactly Ace’s state of mind and it sure does feel nice to have someone agree with him. It’s a strange feeling that it comes from his dad of all people, but he supposes this is precisely the way he should voice his feelings towards his brothers. Ace can deal with one or two humans, five if they’re pushing it, but if a whole village is after them, Ace fears the worst is going to happen. After all, how can he fend off a thousand people?

The things he is willing to do for his brothers.

Getting reminded of the two makes Ace realize that his anger has greatly been pushed down, now that he’s had this talk with his dad. He pushes his dad’s warm hand away to get back on his feet. Putting the cowboy hat back on his messy hair, Ace mumbles, “Thanks, I guess.”

His dad gasps obnoxiously, making Ace take back his thanks straight away. He makes a kicking motion at the dramatic old man and snaps, “See if I ever say it again!” Roger begins to laugh again, but Ace is no longer in the mood for it. He takes off toward the forest and crosses his fingers that his brothers have not already gotten themselves into trouble.

* * *

Leaning further out of her window, Koala watches the waves in the ocean calmly move along with the morning wind. The ruckus on her rooftop has faded in the background, her having long gotten used to the birds being nosy at this hour. From her little room above Ivankov’s clothing store, she has the perfect view of the sea at her front window. The other offers nothing but a dirty alley, which is the most uneventful thing in her life as of now.

It’s been four months since Dragon stationed her in Foosha Village, alongside Ivan, Inazuma, and Hank. She has never made it her business how Dragon managed to get an unused clothing store as a decoy for their headquarters, but it’s brilliant. Ivan gets to live out a clear dream of his, and Koala gets perfect access to the many residents on the island. Yet, in the past four months, Teach has still to make an appearance and that bothers her.

Koala grimaces at the thought of the man. After hearing about how the Revolutionary Army seeks to dismantle Teach and his suspicious gang, she took to reading all of his files. Suspicions of committing fraud, conning people out of their money, even as far as murder. There is enough proof, but the Navy has been overlooking it for years. Claiming they need hard evidence, which admittedly, has not been found. However, there should be enough to at least warrant searches and that has yet to happen. It is no secret that Teach bribes the Navy, which has played a big part in him suddenly going off the radar and coming back as a Navy’s watchdog, playing hunter on a small island.

Koala sighs as rests her cheek against her upper arm, watching Whitebeard’s man carry heavy-looking boxes back and forth at the port. She has never liked Teach. After seeing him in person, even less. She was appalled after finding out he is a hunter, the leader of their little gang of all people. ‘Charming’ his way into the hearts of these poor residents, feeding into their fear of werewolves. Which, Koala knows, is solely based on folktales. She has never met one, but she knows Dragon has and that’s enough for her to not base her own assumptions on cautionary tales. Dragon has not once spoken a bad word about them, so Koala won’t either.

Teach is a slimy greaseball, who has not one empathetic bone in his body no matter how often he claims that he does. She has no idea how the locals thought about werewolves before Teach arrived, but she is sure he made it worse. For Koala, it is unreal to hear the people describe him as their hero. What a load of crap. Werewolves may differ from others, but that should never be a reason to just – shoot them on sight. It’s murder, plain and simple. It’s ridiculous.

Ivan’s loud voice snaps Koala out of her angry rants, echoing between the walls. She yelps as she tumbles away from the window, rolling against her nightstand before coming to a painful halt. Craning her neck, Koala shouts, “What did you say?”

“Oh, good! You’re awake! Dragon-boy just informed me about an upcoming meeting! So get dressed and get downstairs!”

Koala turns a little red and rolls back on her behind before pushing herself back on her bare feet. She hastily runs to get her clothes and shouts back, “Coming!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time I'll promise I'm going to make it up and come with a much longer chapter (since I still have so much planned), which will be on the 4th of January! Thank you again for reading and hopefully you enjoyed it:)
> 
> Social Media:
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> Tumblr: Yu-na-yu and fernandesart


	6. The First Step

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again:) First and foremost, a happy new year to everyone! I pray that everyone will have a much better year than whatever 2020 was:)

“How are you still reading those books? Even with your slow reading I’d have thought you’d be done by now.”

Thatch does not dignify the underlying insult coming from Izo with a response, who is seated across the courtyard between Haruta and Marco. His long-haired brother is looking at him with an amused expression on his face, eyes moving from Thatch’s face to the pile of books next to him on the stairs.

Instead of throwing an insult back, Thatch waves the book in his hand through the air, careful not to remove his thumb from the current page he is on. “Cut me some slack, Izo. This stuff is just so – so interesting! Don’t pretend you’re not even a little bit intrigued by them as well.”

Thatch grins at the picture of a wolf on the cover. He has always been fascinated by werewolves, but in the current world views on them, Pops had once asked of his brothers and him to not openly speak about them. It made him push them to the back of his mind as a whole but all it took were three lost boys for him to start rambling out loud about his childhood interests again.

It had once all started from Pops himself when Thatch was still a brat. His old man used to tell his brothers and him countless stories about a real-life werewolf whom he personally knew and who was active in the underworld for quite some time. Despite never giving away his name, Thatch often found himself getting lost in his own imagination because of the stories. Tales of a tall werewolf who lived his life like a rogue, lead a pack of mindlike werewolves and had no care in the world. Someone who, despite a clear disdain for humans, did business with Pops and who had managed to earn his respect.

_“No friendship, it was mutual respect.”_

Pops may have said that, but the stories sure do speak otherwise. Pops always lights up whenever the werewolf is mentioned, which is why Thatch really hopes the guy is still out there somewhere. According to his father, the werewolf just completely vanished off the face of the earth one day. But he’s not dead, Pops is sure about that. That man was too stubborn to die. Thatch has never met him, never _will_ meet him, but to his younger self, the werewolf was an idol.

As the years went by, Thatch became a bit too busy to keep daydreaming about werewolves. However, after his second stumble into the forest when he was barely sixteen years old, the first one being him looking for a lost soccer ball, his fascination had been reignited due to a pair of shocked yellow eyes staring right at him, hidden behind a bush. He didn’t see much more than that, because after Pops called for him to come back, the eyes were gone.

He is still amazed.

Ever since then, Thatch has been silently obsessing over werewolves, though he is pretty sure his family knows all about it. With the recent discovery of werewolves in their own forest, which is a logical conclusion after finding three of them in their own _Moby Dick_ , Thatch has not been able to properly focus on anything else the past few days. Old books that Pops still had lying around are scatted in his room, something that Jozu is not at all happy about since he now ‘can’t make it to his bed like a normal person’. Thatch has yet to find a proper place for them, so Jozu has to suck it up for a few more days.

Marco has found it very easy to not let it distract him from his normal jobs, but it isn’t hard to see that he too is at least a tiny bit intrigued. There is no other explanation for why his older brother is staring at the woods when he thinks no one is watching. But even though the most trusted one of their little family, the only one who is entirely capable of saying the most ridiculous shit and still be taken seriously, was present when the three young werewolves were causing chaos in the _Moby Dick_ , a handful of his brothers still does not want to believe it.

Haruta is very loudly one of them.

The youngest in question snorts and says, stealing a piece of pork from an offended Izo, “I still don’t get you. According to Pops’ stories, werewolves absolutely despise us. Why the fuck would they _willingly_ seek us, of all people, out? It makes no sense whatsoever.”

“Did you not listen to a word I said? The only reason they came was because our dear Marco stole something from them, so they had no other choice.”

Thatch glances pointedly at his oldest brother, a teasing grin resting on his face. Marco glares back at him but only rolls his eyes and adds to the conversation, “They won’t come back, yoi. That was a one-time-only situation, so Pops’ theory about werewolves hating humans still stands.”

The old man in question takes a large sip from his beer, standing calmly in the door opening as he hums. “Not once did I think I would ever hear of werewolves again after that old bastard of mine disappeared off of the face of the planet. With all the propaganda going around about werewolves these last few decades I considered my chances slim. Clearly, the new generation has gotten a lot braver.”

He rubs his chin with his thumb and index finger, a grin appearing on his face. “In a way, your descriptions remind me of that old wolf. He too would have been reckless enough to sneak inside a human village, _has been_ chaotic enough to cause trouble in crowded places. Perhaps it’s a given trait to be troublesome.”

Izo sighs loudly, dramatically resting his face into the palms of his hand as he rolls a strand of hair between his fingers. “Those poor boys. The more I hear, the more I regret not going down as well. But on the other hand, I guess it would have scared them even more.”

“They would have bitten you, yoi. At least one of them was ready to chew on my hand if I made the wrong move.” Marco mumbles, grinning a little as Izo makes a face. The younger one stares at the blonde in disgust as he says, “You’re telling me they were feral?”

“Damn it, Izo. Don’t talk about other people like that.” Thatch whines, placing a piece of paper as a bookmark before putting it on top of the pile next to him. He leans back with crossed arms as he continues with a childish pout on his face, “Given the fact that they are part _wolf_ and most definitely live up the woods, I highly doubt they’ve had any human interaction prior to us. And let's not forget that they were scared and felt out of place. I too would have taken a bite out of Marco’s hand if I was them.”

He says it with a deadly serious expression on his face, which makes all of his present family burst out into laughter. Marco also can’t help but snort in amusement, shaking his head fondly as he glances at Thatch. Haruta leans against the shaking Izo, a gleam in his eye as he says, “You know, maybe I wouldn’t mind meeting your three little wolves.”

Thatch begins to beam and he jumps up, pointing at his youngest brother as he exclaims, “Right?! I bet your ass you’d love them just –”

The sudden sound of someone, or something, banging loudly against the metal bars of the gates cuts him off and all their heads snap towards the disrupting noises. Thatch can’t see the gates, just barely out of his view, but Marco can. He jumps off the stack of stone tiles and makes big steps towards the gates with narrowed eyes zooming in on the two figures on the other side of the gates.

He very briefly finds himself frozen to the ground when he sees the straw hat, bouncing on top of messy black hair as its owner nearly rips the bars out of the gate with the strength he is using to make as much noise as possible. Blonde hair peeks above the straw hat, a hand tightly gripping the smaller one’s shoulder. It is disturbingly glitching from a human hand to a claw, an uncomfortable feeling settling in Marco’s stomach.

The second he locks eyes with the youngest of the two, the boy’s eyes grow as wide as saucers. He opens his mouth to say, or shout, something but the sound of a voice stops him. Teach’s voice has never been quiet, but in moments like this, Marco almost wishes it was. The look on the youngest face morphs into one of desperation, looking at Marco with eyes that all but demand to be let in.

Given the reaction Marco got when Teach was nearby the last time, he doesn’t need to be told. He snaps himself out of his trance and hurries over to pull the gates open. He only has to half open them before the blonde has had enough. The littlest one wants to take the lead, reaching for the other on instinct but that is clearly not what the older one has in mind. Marco’s eyes widen for a short second when he notices the limp in the blonde’s step, but he is wise enough not to comment on it yet. The leg is worryingly dragging behind the young wolf, but it doesn’t stop him from grabbing the straw hat’s arm to take him into the courtyard as fast as possible.

In the corner of his eye, Marco sees the two come to a sudden halt when they find they are not alone. Thatch’s excited voice carries over to him, but Marco glares at him over his shoulder, mentally asking him to stay quiet as he shuts the gates again.

He made it just in time, Marco sees as Teach comes jogging into the street with a stormy expression on his face. The two lock eyes, which prompts Teach to take painfully slow steps before he stops right in front of Marco. His fingers twitch as he wraps his hand around the iron gates, asking through gritted teeth, “Have you by any chance seen two suspicious-looking boys run by? A blonde and a straw hat. Can’t be missed.”

Void of any emotion that could give it away, Marco shakes his head as he leans against the gates with crossed arms. He looks at Thatch through lidded eyes and says, “Can’t say I have, yoi. We are all sitting out the gates’ view, we wouldn’t have seen them in any way. Suspicious, you said? What have they done, do I know them?”

Teach groans as his fingers tighten around the bar. He leans in even closer, the smell of cigarettes reaching Marco’s noise. “Until we have visible proof, I can’t tell the rest of the village so keep this to yourself.” He looks around him with narrowed eyes and whispers, “Werewolves. I had my suspicions last festival when I ran into one of the three suspects. He was an odd one, I’ll tell you. The other two are just as out of place. They’ve been coming from the direction of the forest, which should tell you more than enough.”

Marco has never particularly cared for Teach’s line of work, which he had eagerly chosen over continuing in the Moby Dick after the opportunity rose to his feet. It had never gotten in the way of his family and their business, so quite honestly, his lack of care came from a rather selfish reason. But the fact that werewolves had not been seen for over twenty years in Foosha Village also made Marco believe that Teach was foolishly looking for gold in the wrong place. However, the three boys make it different this time around. Marco has never been great with children, that’s a job he leaves to someone like Shanks, but he isn’t heartless. He knows Teach can be cruel, unnecessarily so at times. Chances are that those boys will end up in situations that Marco won’t even wish upon his worst enemy.

He bites his lip and settles on, “Well, I hope you’ll find what you’re looking for, yoi.” Teach eyes him with an expression that Marco can’t read before grinning, “Oh, I will. I’ll make this town filthy rich once I’m done with those three monsters.”

He doesn’t wait for Marco to come up with something clever to say back and takes off, hands resting on his two guns as he disappears off into the distance. Marco watches him go through the bars and pushes his tongue against the inside of his cheek in annoyance. He pushes himself away and turns around to walk back. His brothers and father are all standing in the middle of the courtyard, all facing a pile of cardboard boxes near the warehouse. Marco follows their line of vision and finds himself being glared at by a pair of bright violet eyes. The straw hat is full in view, the eyes poorly hidden by a mop of black hair. Blonde hair is nowhere to be found, but going by the way the youngest is constantly checking something next to him, it isn’t hard to find the other.

Marco looks at his brothers, all of whom are unsure of what to do. Haruta is being held back by Izo, his curiosity about to take the best of him. He looks like a child in a candy store, despite the several warnings he’s gotten through Thatch’s wild stories. Thatch himself is nudging his head towards the two wolves behind the boxes, urging Marco to talk instead. The blonde deadpans but doesn’t try to argue, even just to not freak the two kids behind the boxes out. He stares back into the violet eyes, of whom the owner suddenly speaks with a voice that is trying to keep quiet but terribly failing at doing so, “Is the ugly hunter gone?”

Marco has to stop himself from snorting in amusement, instead opting for, “He is. You can come out now.”

“Pinky swear?”

The oddly childish demand makes Izo squeak behind Marco, who promptly ignores his brother’s antics as he answers, as seriously as he can, “Pinky swear and cross my heart.”

The little one pushes himself on his feet, coming into full view for the first time again. He looks across the courtyard with a trembling lower lip, reaching down to grab the blonde’s arm. He looks between the blonde wolf and Marco’s family like a desperate little kid before mustering up the courage to ask, still managing to make it sound demanding, “You didn’t let us get arrested the last time, so you’ve got to be on our sides. Right?”

“If you’re worried about Teach, don’t. Your secret is safe with us, truly. Last time wasn’t a fluke, I swear.” Thatch speaks up, causing the little one to tilt his head to the side like a lost puppy. In a way, Marco supposes he is. The boy bites his lip and continues, a desperate tone to his voice, “My – my brother is hurt and I don’t know how to fix him. You were the only ones we could think of who might be able to make him feel alright again. We can’t go home like this, or else my other brother will get even angrier with us than he already is.”

“Luffy!” the blonde hisses, staring at Marco with a mixture of panic and fury in his eyes. “Don’t just tell them all that!” ‘Luffy’ stares right back and exclaims, not bothering to keep his voice down, “But you said we could trust them! And you’re hurt, which means you can’t go home. If you can’t go, I can’t either and then Ace will be very angry. Angry and also very worried. Which I really don’t want!”

The older one bites his lip, a clear indication that he is nervous, as his eyes flicker between Luffy and Marco. His nails dig into the cardboard box, still flickering between fur and skin like a glitch. He stares at his brother and hisses, still loud in the quietness of the courtyard, “I know what I’ve said, but – I don’t want Ace to be worried just as much as you do, alright? We’ve already broken the little trust he still had in us by simply going here, the last thing I want to do is make him hate us completely!”

He snaps his gaze towards the little group huddled together, murmuring, “Besides, we don’t need any help. I can walk just fine. Let’s go.”

The blonde gets back on his feet and he clutches the littlest one’s shoulder in a painful way, stubbornly ignoring any ache his leg might have. Luffy looks more worried with every passing second and the desperate look he throws at Marco makes him make up his mind. He steps forward, ignoring the way both of them flinch as he reaches out his hand, “I can’t in good conscience let you run back like that, yoi. Let me take a look at it, alright? You can do whatever you want afterwards, but this won’t do.”

Pops nods along with every word he says, staring at the two boys in the same manner as when either of his sons has gotten hurt. Luffy tugs the blonde’s jacket, beaming as he goes, “See? They’ll fix your leg! And Ace won’t ever find out about it because I bet they’ll do it very fast. Won’t you? I’ll beat you up if you make it worse though.”

Marco can’t stop himself from chuckling as he shakes his head, “I wouldn’t dream of it, yoi. Please just follow me back inside the house so you’re out of sight. I swear, nothing bad will happen. We all just want to help.”

“But –”

“We’ll do it!” Luffy shouts, cutting off the blonde. He grabs the other’s arm and roughly, though Marco has the idea this is his version of careful, tugs him away from the boxes. Without Marco even needing to ask, Luffy points at the swollen ankle and tells them loudly, much to the blonde’s clear dismay, “See that? Sabo fell when we were running away from that gross man. So it’s all his fault, you should throw _him_ in jail.”

“Luffy, I swear to – they don’t need to know how this happened.”

“But Sabo –”

“The straw hat is right, kid. If we don’t know how it happened, you might start being reckless again.” Pops interrupts Luffy, a grin on his face as ‘Sabo’ glares back at him. Luffy happily tugs Sabo’s coat again and continues, slowly following after the group as they all go back inside, “I told you! But anyway, we just wanted to see the pretty lights again because last time we had to leave in a hurry. So we came back! Ace doesn’t know we are here, but that’s okay. I’ll get him to come the next time.”

“I take it Ace is the one who nearly bit me?” Marco dryly asks, much to Luffy’s excitement. The little one begins to laugh, dragging Sabo across the threshold as he all but shouts, “Yes! He is so cool!”

“I bet he is.”

If Luffy notices the sarcasm, he doesn’t show it. He hums and continues, “But that’s not important right now. That stupid hunter saw us and he immediately started sneaking after us, the bastard. But Sabo spotted him so we started running. That’s when he tripped and broke his leg! So we came here because this is the only place we know. And also, Sabo said we can trust you.”

Sabo groans, but doesn’t say anything. He lets himself be seated on the stairs that lead up to their living areas, shrugging Luffy away as he quietly says, “It’s fine, Lu. Stop fussing.” Luffy begins to pout but he doesn’t leave the other’s side. He sets himself down next to him and looks at Marco expectedly, who sighs as he finds himself rushing upstairs for the first aid kit.

This is not at all how he thought he’d see the little rascals again.

* * *

It feels like a déjà vu, running onto the sandy path towards the village like a lunatic but here Ace is. However, the last time he did it, he had Sabo next to him to keep him from completely losing it in his worries. Ace curses under his breath, coming down to a halt a few meters before entering the village again. This time it’s different because now, he has two idiots to drag back by their ears. He ducks behind a grass hill to peek at the passing humans, not a single soul noticing the bright golden eyes staring them down.

Ace never thought he would find his brothers rolling through the grass like overexcited little puppies waiting for him with fast forgiveness for the way he insulted them the past week, but he certainly didn’t expect them to be pissed him to the point of going back to the village in act of showing just how much they don’t care about his worries. Ace clutches his hands, eyes finding the fading footsteps in the sand. He grits his teeth as he lowers his cowboy hat, already cursing the rash decision to go after his brothers without taking the sunglasses with him.

Ace has never wanted to go home as much as now.

He stares at the humans with an anxious feeling in his stomach, one that he can’t seem to push away. He swallows away his annoying fears and gets back up to carefully make his way over to the village, clutching the cowboy hat with strength that should rip the fabric apart. He knows it doesn’t make him look any less out of place, but he’d much rather have them stare at him for the way he walks than for his eyes.

There is no doubt in Ace’s mind that the big whale is the place where he is going to find his brothers since they’ve not been able to talk about anything else for the past few days. But looking for the big sign turns out to be harder than he expected it to be. He makes his steps bigger, trying to quickly walk through the minefield of humans all around him but the sudden whiff of a familiar scent makes him stop dead in his tracks.

He presses his shoulder against the brick wall of the building he has stopped in front of, a poor attempt of trying to stay out of sight. It doesn’t do much, as it doesn’t take long for hurried footsteps to march over to him and a hand soon plants itself on his shoulder. Red strands of hair come Ace’s line of vision and he groans as Shanks’ voice begins to hiss, “What are you doing here, little one?! I was so amazing to help you three out the last time, only for you of all people to come back? You know what. No. I will not let you run off into the wild again, not this time. Come with me.”

“Shanks, wait –”

Shanks doesn’t wait. He grabs both of Ace’s shoulders and pushes him forward with enough strength to make him stumble his way through the people, some of whom look at Shanks like he’s lost his mind. The redhead just smiles back, beaming in the same way Luffy has learned to do.

Moving away from the crowded areas, Ace soon finds himself walking on a sandy street opposite to the pavement that seems to run through the whole town. Shanks loosens his iron grip on Ace, pushing him in front of him with a surprisingly gentle hand on the back. The redhead comes to a halt in front of a stand-alone building, two swing doors right in the middle. As Ace reluctantly joins his side, he looks up at the big sign that hangs above the doors and the two windows at the side.

_Partys Bar._

Not looking down, Ace points at it, “Isn’t this the place you always rave about?” Shanks chuckles, “I work here, kid. Not to mention my beautiful wife is the owner of this bar. Of course I’m going to rave about it. Let’s go.” He walks ahead of Ace, walking the two steps before pushing against the swing doors with his shoulders. Not wanting to be left alone in a place full of people, Ace hurries after him.

He pushes the doors open with his hands, looking around him as he steps inside. It’s surprisingly quiet, considering every place else is buzzing with people. Green walls, adorned with several framed news articles, a few pictures, and a blue-striped ring buoy hanging on one of the wooden pillars paint a much softer image of the tavern than Shanks’ stories. As Ace quietly walks after Shanks, up to the wooden bar at the other side of the establishment, he can’t imagine rowdy bandits causing bloody fights to the death in this place. There are about ten tables scattered across the floor, only three of which are occupied with a few people chatting among themselves.

The second Shanks puts his hand on the bar, green hair pops up from behind the counter. A pair of big eyes immediately hone in on the by now uncomfortable Ace, playing with the bracelet like a lost little kid. Makino’s eyes widen, briefly gaping at her grinning husband before making grabby hands towards Ace. He sends an annoyingly shy smile her way as he quickly walks over, soon finding his cheeks being squashed in the way Makino always used to do when his brothers and he were still very little.

“Look at you, Ace. You’ve grown up in the blink of an eye. How I wish I could have visited more often, but alas. What are you doing here? Not that I’m not happy to see you, I’m over the moon, but I know your father isn’t all that keen on letting you go down here.” Makino rambles on, ruffling Ace’s hair.

“This wasn’t my idea,” Ace says quietly, trying his hardest to keep his eyes hidden. The green-haired woman gasps as the realization of that hits her and she holds up her finger as if to say ‘hang on a second’ before rushing upstairs.

Shanks watches her go with a fond look on his face and sits down, forcing Ace to sit on the stool next to his own. Ace’s eyes are cast down, playing with his fingers in a nervous manner. The redhead sighs and looks over his shoulder, seeing just the three other people behind him. Ace looks at them in the corner of his eye. A man with a ridiculous cross on his chest and two others that look close to his own age. A greenhead and a girl with pink hair, both of whom are bickering about god knows what. None of them is paying attention to Ace, which is enough for Shanks to turn back.

Makino has come back in the short while and hands her sunglasses to her nephew-in-all-but-name, who gratefully takes them from her. Shanks watches the interaction, resting his cheek in the palm of his hand as he asks, “Why are you constantly endangering yourself these weeks? Where did my ever so careful nephew go? This is the second time in two, three weeks that I’ve seen you here, which is far more than I ever expected from you.”

Ace briefly flashes Makino a smile, hoping it will convey just how glad he is to be handed her pair of sunglasses. She beams right back at him and turns on her heels to get two drinks ready for her husband and him. Ace eyes Shanks, who is patiently waiting on his answer. He bites his lip, scratching his nose as he answers in a quiet voice, “Remember when my brothers and I were here during that festival thingy? Well, Lu lost his hat so last week we came back for it a few nights ago.”

“You what?”

Ace glares at Shanks for the interruption, “You heard me. Someone from some whale store had taken it with him and though we got that stupid straw hat back, my brothers have not been able to shut up about that store for the past week. And, well, it made me angry, so we’ve been doing nothing but fight for the past few days.”

He digs his nails into the red wood of the bar, “It made them very pissed with me and now they’ve completely lost it and came back here. I know I shouldn’t have yelled at them, but I don’t know how else to show them I don’t ever want to find them behind bars on a ship that’ll sail them far away from me.”

Shanks drinks his beer and wipes away the foam from his mouth with the back of his hand. He gives Ace the same look his mother gives him whenever she feels bad for him, which doesn’t settle well with him. The redhead hums, “So now you’ve come back to get them. It’s never easy with you three is it?”

“You don’t need to rub it in, old man.”

Shanks has the gall to chuckle as he shakes his head. He leans his arms on the countertop as he watches Makino busy herself with cleaning glasses. “Whale store, huh? Don’t tell me you went to Whitebeard’s little knickknack collection.”

“Who is Whitebeard?” Ace asks, running his finger across the surface of his own glass. Shanks makes a face before settling on a smile as he says, “The old bastard who owns the _Moby Dick_ , which I presume is where you went. He’s a stubborn old man who likes to pretend I’m still a child, but I suppose he’s not the worst you could have ended up with.”

“What are you talking about, there was no old man around. Just two guys with the weirdest hairdos.” Ace grumbles, looking at Shanks who begins to laugh. The redhead snorts, “Of all people, you had to meet Marco. Well done, little one.”

Ace makes a fist at the laughing old man and snaps, “Shanks, I swear! Stop making a joke out of his, would you? My brothers are there right now and I don’t trust them one bit. What if they’ll hurt them? The other night was a fucking fluke, I don’t want to gamble on my brothers lives again!”

Shanks pushes away his glass to put a hand on Ace’s shoulder, forcing him to look him in the eye. “Ace, out of everyone in this village, they are the ones you need the be the least afraid of. I’m not the biggest fan of them, but I do know that they will never hurt your brothers, alright? If you can’t trust them, trust me.”

Ace searches Shanks’ face for a hint of a lie, but he can’t find any. He slumps his shoulders in defeat. Fine, he’ll trust his uncle but never those Whitebeard fellas. He balls his fists, throwing a look over his shoulder to look at the rather quiet streets outside. He really needs to go or else he might be too late.

Shanks follows his line of vision and finishes his beer before slamming the glass on the countertop. He jumps off of the stool and drags Ace back on his feet as well, dusting off his shoulders as he says, “I’m coming with. And don’t you dare try to argue, I won’t have it. You walked around here without supervision once, but never again.”

“You can’t be serious!” Ace hisses but Shanks pushes the glass of juice towards him as he whispers, “Deadly. Now finish your juice and let’s go.”

“Don’t treat me like a child, old man.” Ace glares at the grinning Shanks but drinks the juice anyway. Makino rubs her hands in a nervous manner behind the bar, looking between Ace and her husband as she asks, “Are you going to be alright? I know you can handle yourself just fine with Whitebeard, but with Ace around… Keep them safe, would you?”

Shanks smiles at her and leans over the give her a sound kiss on the cheek.

“Don’t you worry. All I need to do is get those two rascals back home and have a few strong words with Whitebeard and his brats. Can’t get much easier than that.”

* * *

Ace gawks at the ‘closed’-sign hanging behind the window at the _Moby Dick_ , a pouting Shanks right next to him. The sign seems to be mocking him and if Ace didn’t have Shanks right next to him, he might have smashed the window. He pushes himself past the redhead to peek inside, finding nothing but an empty store. He narrows his eyes but doesn’t get a chance to look much further as Shanks ever so roughly tugs him out the way to loudly bang on the door himself.

It’s quiet for a few more seconds before the sound of locks getting opened breaks that silence. A little bell sounds as the door is ripped open and Ace finds himself eye to eye with an unfamiliar man, long hair falling down his shoulders in an almost delicate manner. The human’s eyes widen at the sight of Shanks for a mere second, not having noticed Ace’s looming glare across his uncle’s shoulders. The human is a little too stiff for Ace’s liking, but the man coughs obnoxiously and leans against the doorframe as he loudly asks, “What are you doing here, Shanks? Have you lost the ability to read or are you really just this rude?”

Shanks forces a smile at the man, “Let’s not dance around this. If I have to believe my nephew, which I always do, I believe you have something of mine. I’d like it back.”

A look of confusion glances over the man’s face. “Nephew? What are you talking – hey! Don’t just march in here like you own the place!”

Ace doesn’t care. He pushes past Shanks and the obnoxious human to tumble inside the store. Without the moonlight it doesn’t look nearly as magical as the last time he was here, but he wastes no time thinking about it. He runs inside and as he hears his uncle dash after him, Ace grabs one of the wooden poles keeping the place up to round a corner, arriving at the two staircases. He comes to an abrupt stop when four pairs of eyes snap up towards him, only two of which Ace has seen before. He glares at them and begins to growl, pointing an accusing finger at Marco in particular, “I know you have my brothers. Where are they?”

Marco raises his hands but Ace won’t let him speak. He sets a daring step forward and hisses, “I swear, if you’ve hurt them, I’ll end you all.”

The sound of his little brother’s welcoming voice makes the group of humans break apart, revealing Sabo sitting on the stairs with a bandaged leg and Luffy jumping up and down behind him. Ace’s eyes widen as his breath hitches, something that Luffy is blissfully unaware of as he exclaims, “Ace-nii! You came! Ah, wait! You were not supposed to know we were here!”

Ace doesn’t answer him, instead staring at Sabo with widened eyes. His twin’s boot lies forgotten on the ground, his bare foot resting on a step of the stairs. Sabo has the nerve to look guilty but one look at the bandaged ankle is enough to push aside his anger at his brothers. He glares at the humans, all of whom seem to understand what Ace has concluded. Marco walks up to him but Ace sets one step back as he fumes, “You bastards. How dare you hurt my brother?”

Sabo immediately jumps up but he stumbles back on his feet with a hiss before exclaiming, “Ace, no! That is not what happened! Let me explain!”

“Explain what?! You ran away from home, only for me to find you with a broken leg amidst a group of humans! What else is there to explain?” Ace shouts, feeling a pair of arms wrap themselves around his torso to stop him from jumping any of the people nearby. Shanks holds him back as he says, voice loud in his ears, “Let’s not start a fight before you know what’s going on, alright? I swear if they actually did it, I’ll be the first to punch Marco’s lights out but first calm down!”

Ace struggles against Shanks’ strong arms, eyes only fixated on his two brothers, both of who are looking at him like kicked puppies. He groans and lets himself slump down in defeat, ignoring everyone around him but his family. Sabo, though it is obvious to even a blind person that it hurts, pushes himself on his feet and walks up to him, Luffy in tow. No one makes a move, much to Ace’s relief, and his brother is right in front of him in just a matter of seconds.

Ace looks at him, waiting for Sabo to make the first move. Luffy is looking over Sabo’s shoulder, a pout on his face as he stares back at Ace. Sabo looks genuinely guilty, which is not something Ace is used to, as most of the time, it’s either Luffy or himself who gets the three of them into trouble. The blonde rubs his arm, quickly looking around him before saying in a much too soft voice, “Ace I – I’m sorry. This is all my own fault and you can get very angry at me for it. Luffy and I were stupid for thinking running back would solve anything, alright?”

There are so many things Ace can pick Sabo apart for, but the anger he felt at his brothers for willingly throwing themselves in the den of the lion has long made way for his worries. Instead of yelling, Ace looks at the bandaged ankle and asks, voice surprisingly just as quiet, “How did that happen?”

Sabo trades looks with Luffy, who takes it upon himself to push himself between his brothers whilst whining, “That is all a hunter’s fault!”

Ace’s world stops turning. His eyes widen and he exclaims, “A hunter?!” Sabo grabs his shoulders to shake him, “He didn’t catch us, Ace! I just tripped in our hurry to stay out of sight, that’s all there is to this. Nothing happened, I swear on mom’s flower garden.”

Ace’s eyes fly all over his brother’s face, calming down his rapidly beating heart. He swallows away the nerves and grabs Sabo to pull him into a bone-crushing hug. Sabo makes a surprised noise but doesn’t fight it. He relaxes in Ace’s arms and Ace mumbles, resting his cheek against Sabo’s shoulder, “I’m sorry for getting angry. If I had been able to talk like a normal person, you wouldn’t have felt the need to run off. But don’t ever do this to me again, would you?”

Sabo chuckles and pats his brother’s back, “You wouldn’t be you if you were normal, Ace. I’m so sorry too, for sneaking away like that. And not bothering to understand. I do, alright? I was just frustrated and took it out the wrong way.”

“More like the dangerous way, kiddo,” Shanks speaks up as he puts his hand on Ace’s shoulder, successfully breaking the brothers apart. Luffy beams up at him, sensing that most of the tension has gone up the air. Shanks grins back at him and the youngest instantly jumps on the redhead’s back. As Ace glances around, he notices the confusion on Marco and the others’ faces, all of whom are looking at Shanks like he’s grown a second head.

Shanks doesn’t seem to mind Luffy jumping on him though and pats his straw hat, “I’m only here to get you three home safe. And to get in through your thick skulls to never pull a stunt like this again. I don’t think my poor heart can handle this much excitement.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Ace groans, pulling his little brother back to the ground. The old man who has been quietly watching in the corner steps forward, looking at Shanks with a raised eyebrow. Shanks doesn’t look away and sighs, “I’ll be having a word with you later, Whitebeard. But after I get the kids back home. Which is right now, let’s go.”

“Eh? But I want to hang around a bit longer! All they’ve done is fix Sabo’s pain, I didn’t get to look around!” Luffy immediately begins to whine, but for once, Shanks ignores the whines. He pushes Luffy forward and bends down for Sabo to climb on his back. The blonde stares at him like he’s lost his mind, so Ace lightly pushes him forward. Sabo makes an offended sound when he falls on Shanks’ back, glaring at his twin. Ace childishly sticks out his tongue at him before turning around to find Marco staring holes through his back. Ace swallows his pride and points at the other blonde, “I’ll say this once and never again, but I guess thank you. For helping Sabo out and not handing them over to the Navy.”

Marco grins right back at him and the only other person that Ace is familiar with positively beams at him, much to Ace’s annoyance. He turns back on his heels and rushes after his own family, all of whom are waiting outside. Shanks gives him a thumbs up, smiling widely at Ace before guiding his brothers and him back to the forest, keeping Sabo securely on his back.

Luffy begins to hang off of Ace’s arm like a monkey, whispering loudly, “I won’t go back if it really makes you sad, but I really want to go again. Please? I swear you’ll like it too!”

Ace has always struggled saying no to Luffy when his little brother activates the puppy eyes and now is no exception. Somewhere ahead of them, Ace can hear Shanks reminding them that that is perhaps not a great idea since their dad won’t be happy with them going behind his back, but Ace has already made up his mind.

“Fine. If that’s what you want, then fine. But the second we are slightly in danger, I will drag both of you back home in just a matter of seconds.”

Luffy’s attempt of quietly cheering is enough for Ace to momentarily forget about his worries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter feels a little all over the place for me, but I was struggling a lot with how I wanted this to go. Next chapter will hopefully run a bit smoother:')
> 
> Next chapter: 18th of January (edit: it's unfortunately going to be a week later [25th of January], due to sudden more work I still need to do for my thesis)

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, I hope I wrote this well enough for someone who has to relearn how to do it:') Since I am also very busy with writing my thesis, I'll try to update every two weeks for now:) Thank you so much for reading! x


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